For the past 10 days, in Mandya district in Karnataka there was more fire than water. The agitation by farmers in that district is getting out of control. For few days, they had even seized all the major dams acrossCauvery in Karnataka. They called for a state wide bandh on 12th September2002 and it was supported by few other associations. What is this all for? It is all to put pressure on the Karnataka Government not to abide by the Supreme Court order and/or the suggestions of Cauvery River Authority(CRA). Here is a quick recap of events that took place in the last two weeks. On September 3, the Apex Court ordered Karnataka to release 1.25 tmc of water everyday till 31st October 2002. Karnataka obeyed this order for two days and thereafter due to large scale violence it expressed its inability to release this quantum of water to TamilNadu as ordered by the Supreme Court. And the rainfall is low. The problem for Karnataka is sharing the scarcity (of water) and not sharing the surplus water. Sharing the scarcity is possible only by accommodating neighbourly interests and is not possible by political or legal means. Even if it is possible by later means, it will not be a long-standing solution.

The TamilNadu Chief Minister's accusation that CRA lacks power does not augur well to solve the crisis. Also, she accused that the meeting was convened without giving sufficient notice. When the Prime Minister, the head of CRA, was leaving for USA on a official visit, he had to convene this CRA meeting on a short notice. In stead of projecting the TamilNadu farmers' case, the TamilNadu CM used this issue to settle political scores. When the Chief Ministers of Kerala and Pondicherry made it for the meeting with such a short notice and who has less stakes in this issue than TamilNadu, what Jayalalitha did was against the interest of the State. There is also a wide spread feeling that she boycotted sue can not be solved by presenting data and analyzing the data. What does these numbers mean if one side is benefited at the cost of the other side? As a concerned person, this author suggests few measures to resolve this issue. It is upto the future whether it wants to follow at least some of these suggestions.

TamilNadu should also work on alternate permanent solutions for its water problem especially in the delta region. Of course, it has its rights over the Cauvery water. It does not mean that if Cauvery does not provide water, the farmers in the delta region should die of starvation. In the water starved regions, both in Karnataka and TamilNadu, drip irrigation should be introduced by the Governments and a nominal charge is levied on the farmers. There should be a freeze on the cultivable land area in the Cauvery regions of both the States unless the region shows the steps taken for improving water resource. The permanent solutions that should be achieved on a war-footing by both the States are desisting of "not even a drop of water to TamilNadu" does not stand in the court of law. The government that yields to the opposition gimmicks and disobeys court order should be dislodged on the basis of "Contempt of Court Law". The farmers should be told that sharing does not mean releasing water after their (Karnataka farmers) needs are taken care of. There should be a wide spread awareness created that releasing water (to TamilNadu) is not an obligation but binding on Karnataka.

Above all, there should be a properly constituted Farmers Coordination Committee with equal representation from TamilNadu and Karnataka. This committee should be meeting regularly to assess the situation and the needs of the other side. The constitution and empowerment of such a committee would at least diffuse the crisis even if it does not solve the crisis. The Centre for its part should seriously consider linking all the major national rivers. This would help in better utilization of rain water and also would avoid floods in other parts of the country.