Search the Internet          Tips

Karnataka to study Jaya's missive on CRA meet

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

The Karnataka government is adopting a cautious approach to the letter written by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the proposed Cauvery River Authority meeting.

"We are yet to receive a copy of Jayalalithaa's letter. We will study its contents and respond appropriately. Since the inter-state water dispute is a sensitive one, I would not like to comment publicly without first knowing the details," Chief Minister S M Krishna told rediff.com at his office-cum-residence in Bangalore.

But the chief minister hoped the CRA meeting would be convened soon after Vajpayee returns from his Southeast Asia trip by Saturday.

"We have already represented to the prime minister to convene the next CRA meeting at the earliest in the light of the Supreme Court's directive to that effect on November 1," he said.

In her letter to Vajpayee, Jayalalithaa said that Tamil Nadu would have to be informed three days in advance about Karnataka's pleadings to the CRA for preparing her state's case on water release.

Questioning the locus standi of the CRA, the Tamil Nadu chief minister contended that the CRA had no power to either decrease or increase the quantum of water to be released by Karnataka as stipulated by the Cauvery Tribunal in its interim report over a decade ago.

"As the CRA is not an appellate authority, it has no power to decide on the quantum of water fixed by the tribunal. Its job is to only work out the modalities of implementing the latter's order in toto," she contended.

Jayalalithaa has also accused the CRA and the prime minister of being partisan to Karnataka and favouring the latter's stand in the century-old inter-state water dispute.

Cauvery Water Dispute: The Complete Coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report