FEDERATIONS OF FARMER’S ASSOCIATION CAUVERY DELTA DISTRICTS, TAMILNADU Letter to PM (07-10-2012)

FEDERATIONS OF FARMER’S ASSOCIATION

CAUVERY DELTA DISTRICTS, TAMILNADU

(Non Party)

To                                                                     Date- 07-10-2012

Shri. D.V. Singh

Union Water Resource Secretary

&  Cauvery Monitoring Committee Chairman,

New Delhi.

Respected Sir,

            Warm Greetings,

            We humbly submit the following for your kind perusal regarding the present Cauvery Crisis. .We request you to kindly convey our representation to the Cauvery River Authority Chairman, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

1. As already there is a Distress – Sharing formula worked out by the Central Water Commission, there is no need to assess the water needs of Cauvery Basin Tamilnadu. We Pray the Distress-Sharing formula arrived by the CWC must be implemented to Save the Farmers and People of lower Riparian State Tamilnadu.
2.  We request that all the Karnataka Cauvery Reservoirs and the Irrigation Tanks connected with the canals also must be monitored and the live storages of all tanks connected with the canals must be taken in to account, as Karnataka is releasing water in the canals and  storing  it in the Tanks.
3. The River Cauvery is life line for 2 crore people below Mettur and drinking water source for 5 crore people in Tamilnadu.  The River Cauvery is the main water source for Tamilnadu and the State have no other surplus catchments to substitute.But Karnataka is wasting 2000 TMC, flows annually in West Flowing Rivers and they have another major source of 969 TMC in River Krishna.
4. Karnataka State, for the last 40 years  never accepted the reasonable Rights of Tamilnadu.. By inducing linguistic chauvinism and agitations the State wants to take complete control of the River Cauvery. In so many occasions  Karnataka violated, and exceeded the Constitutional limits. At most occasions  the Government of India is mere spectator of all these violations.
5. The Karnataka State is behaving as Independent Nation. If the GOI, hesitate to take action against this for political reasons, We can not Save Nation’s Unity and Integration.
6. We pray all the Karnataka Cauvery Reservoirs should be put under the control of Army and the Rightful share of Tamilnadu in Cauvery Water must be assured .
7. We pray the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) be amended with more powers to control the violating states.  There is provision for this in the Inter-state Water Dispute Act 1956.  (ISWDA) (Modified upto 28^th March 2002). ISWDA Section 6A, rule section 5 clearly states.  “ The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, add to amend or vary any scheme framed under sub section (1).  The present CRA was constituted under ISWDA Act section 6A, Sub Section 1.  

1. The Crucial irrigation period for Tamilnadu Cauvery Delta is from June to September for Both Kuruvai and Samba crop.  The entire samba cultivation must be completed before September end or at the maximum October First Week, to over come  devastation by floods during November and December. As per the Cauvery Tribunal  Interim Order Karnataka State has to release 137 TMC from June to September Month wise on Weekly basis. Since 1992 including the current year Karnataka had not complied the Cauvery Tribunal Interim order for 14 years and only in 7 years it complied the above said order, mostly the surpluses only released. Karnataka State always treating the lower riparian Tamilnadu as Drainage.  Due to this adament attitude of Karnataka Cauvery Delta Farmers Economy completely ruined and the production dwindled  50% to 70% of normal yield in the delta. 

1. Karnataka State at present in the Supreme Court mischievously placed its argument that 2002-2003,& 2003-2004,  were distress years and Tamilnadu got good yield with the meager releases from Mettur 87 TMC and 60 TMC respectively.  The Actual yield of paddy in the Cauvery Delta during 2002-2003 was 9.94% lakh tons and 2003-2004 was 11.04 lakh tons, which is 1/3^rd of normal year of 2006-2007 yield 31.88% lakh tons. 

1. In Tamilnadu below Mettur 16 lakhs acres with annual cropped area of 22 lakh acres got irrigation facilities before 1970 itself.  The Cauvery Fact Finding Committee (CFFC) report 1972 had confirmed this truth.  As this is the factual position we pray the Government of India “not to bow to the pressure politics of Karnataka State”.  The state sponsored agitations and violence in Karnataka should be dealt with the  Constitutional Powers of Government of India without any further delay.

1. The immediate irrigation needs of the total 16 lakhs acres for single crop including Cauvery Delta, we need a minimum daily 2 TMC (23150 cusecs) for 40 days to complete the transplantation and to wet the direct sown paddy fields.  The Mettur this year was opened on 17^th September a delay of nearly two months, till now the water is not reached to the tail-end areas. The transplantation may be completed around November 2^nd week and the water is needed upto  February 2^nd week for irrigation.

1. We Pray the CRA, must take in to consideration that from 1934 to 1970, the annual average flows to Mettur was 378  TMC and it was reduced to a meager 205 TMC in 1991 Cauvery Tribunal’s Interim Order and further this also reduced to 192 TMC in Final Order. Even these Meager flows, also not accepted by Karnataka and the state is violating all constitutional norms.

1. Now Tamilnadu is a water starving state and it is troubled by Karnataka on Cauvery. On the other side Kerala State is creating problems in Mullaiperiyar and in Palar River Andhra state is also creating troubles. Tamilnadu lost its catchments during re-organisation of states in 1956.  Now these catchments are with Karnataka & Kerala. These two states together are having un-utilized surpluses in the west flowing rivers around 2500 TMC.  These surpluses are National Assets and the GOI should take steps to share the surpluses with the neighboring State Tamilnadu. If the Cauvery & Mullai Periyar Problems are not solved,  the Tamilnadu People will reclaim the catchments lost during Re-organization of States in 1956. i.e. Tamilnadu State from Kanyakumari to Coorg.(Kumari to Kudagu).
2.  We Pray that  the Pleadings of the Tamilnadu Government as per  Distress Sharing Formula for the South-West monsoon period and subsequent pleas  kindly be considered sympathetically by the Cauvery Monitoring Committee and recommendation be made to the CRA to Save the Tamilnadu Cauvery Basin Farmers and the Food Production of Tamilnadu.

                                                                                                  Yours Sincerely,

                                                                                               Arupathy Kalyanam

                                                                                              General Secretary