Karnataka government decides to call all party meet on Cauvery soon

The Karnataka government on Monday decided to convene an all-party meeting to plan its next move after the Centre's decision to set up the Cauvery Water Management Authority and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee.

The government also said it has nominated two senior officials as its representatives to the Authority and the Committee under 'protest' so as to 'block' any further 'damages' to the state's interests. In a high-level meeting here, the state government decided to appoint Water Resources Principal Secretary Rakesh Singh and Cauvery Irrigation Authority Managing Director HL Prasanna as the two representatives from the state in the Cauvery River Water Regulation Committee.

"We have got various suggestions from experts, legal luminaries, our Advocate General and our legal team from Delhi. In order to have a strategy we decided to call for an all-party meeting and our Parliament members," Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar said and added that the meeting would be convened in three to four days.

To discuss the next course of action, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Monday convened a meeting, which was attended by Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, Shivakumar, the AG, the state's legal team, experts and water resources department officials.

Shivakumar pointed out that the Chief Minister had personally met the Prime Minister and union water resources minister on the issue related to the Cauvery water management scheme during his June 18 visit to Delhi.

Despite the state's reservation, the Centre had already notified and constituted regulatory committee and authority.

He said Karnataka has been affected by the Apex Court judgement and cited a provision that such matters needed to be deliberated in Parliament before the committee was constituted.

The Centre had on June 22 constituted a nine-member Cauvery Water Management Authority and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee, comprising representatives fromTamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

Karnataka had notnominated its representatives. The state has been opposing any move to form the Authority and had instead suggested formation of Cauvery Decision Implementation Committee.

Kumaraswamy had last week accused the Centre of having taken a "unilateral" decision, hurting the state's interests.

Shivakumar said that under protest, the Chief Minister on June 23 also nominated two officers to block any further damages to the interests of the state.

Claiming that the government has got information that a Committee meeting was likely to be convened in Delhi on July 2, he said the Chief Minister, who apprehended that decisions might be taken in absence of the state's representatives, had sent the names of the Principal Secretary (water resources) Rakesh Singh (to the Authority) and Managing Director of Cauvery Neeravari Nigam H R Prasanna Kumar, to the body.

Alleging that injustice had been done to Karnataka, Shivakumar said the government was exploring legal options.

Asked whether the other riparian states were backing Karnataka, he said "I don't want to disclose the strategy right now. We are on our strategic move."