Activity: Conversation on Cauvery Dispute

Activity: Conversation on Cauvery Dispute Student: Sir, can you please explain us the Cauvery dispute? Teacher: Cauvery dispute is an inter-State water dispute. It involves the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry. Student: What is the history behind the issue? Teacher: The history of the issue is a long one. The Madras Presidency and the Princely State of Mysore signed an agreement in for sharing the waters. After being in operation for fifty years the agreement lapsed in . Student: Did the disputants hold negotiations thereafter? Teacher: Yes, many rounds of negotiations were conducted for nearly two decades but no solution was reached. As we learnt earlier in the class, the Inter State River Water Disputes Act allows for the formation of a tribunal for resolving the river water disputes. The Cauvery River Water Tribunal was established in to solve the issue. Student: Did the Tribunal deliver its Award? What are the features of its Award? Teacher: Yes. The Tribunal gave the final Award in . It stipulated a monthly release of water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu across the border in Biligundlu. It fixed the share of each state from Cauvery River. It provided a distress formula to share the waters in years when rainfall is low allowing for proportionate sharing of the available water. Student: What is the Cauvery management Board? Teacher: The Tribunal provided a Cauvery Water Management Board to manage the tricky problem of sharing the water Student: Has it been formed? Teacher: After many years of litigation, the Supreme Court delivered the final verdict and directed the Union Government to constitute the mechanism to implement the Award. The Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee were established in to ( governor. It is often pointed out that the Union Government to arm-twist the State executive. The Dravidian parties, since the days of C.N. Annadurai, have been demanding ‘genuine autonomy for the States, by reducing the Governor’s power of interfering with the State executive and State legislature. The regional parties have deprecated the practice of appointing politically active and partisan persons as governors. They have frequently demanded that the governor should be appointed in consultation with the State Government. Many political commentators and commissions have argued for the appointment of eminent persons who have contributed to India’s development in diverse fields as governors. The attitude of the Governor towards the State Governments of those ruled by parties opposed to the ruling party at the Centre is another major tension area in Centre-State relations. Whenever there is a split in a ruling State party or hung assembly, the role of the Governor becomes very crucial and in many instances, the regional and opposition parties have agitated against the decisions of the incumbents in gubernatorial office.