Letter From Chennai: It's water wars again in TN

The North-East monsoon has been rather disappointing so far. This at a time when Tamil Nadu is already facing a bad harvest because of the shortage in supply of the Cauvery waters by Karnataka.

The state government is wondering how the farmers can be helped and how sufficient drinking water supplies can be maintained in the coming summer, particularly in the capital city, Chennai.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's rural water scheme 'Swajaldhara' launched on Christmas day and the ambitious scheme to link up the northern and southern rivers are still in the blue-print stage.

But for Tamil Nadu, the prospect for the immediate future is rather bleak. The state government has, in this situation, picked up a quarrel with the Kerala government apart from the running feud with Karnataka.

Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa has written to her Kerala counterpart, A.K. Antony, to protest against that state's decision to divert the water from the Bhavani river, a tributary of the Cauvery.

Jayalalithaa has stated that this will directly affect irrigation and drinking water needs of Coimbatore. She has objected to the move at a time when the Cauvery issue is pending before a tribunal.

In her letter she told Antony, "In the above circumstances, I request you to kindly reconsider the matter and desist from taking further action on the construction of the proposed weir until the Cauvery dispute is settled by the Tribunal".

A Public Interest Petition has meanwhile been filed in the Madras High Court challenging Kerala's proposal.

There is already friction between the two states over the Mullaperiyar dam.

Tamil Nadu has demanded the raising of the height of the dam to 152 feet from the present 136 feet, to impound more water. Kerala, on the other hand, has objected to the scheme on the plea that it will submerge vast areas upriver, which are highly populated and developed.

Kerala has apparently taken the stand that the diversion of the Bhavani was not part of the Cauvery dispute. Officials state that there is an agreement, signed between Tamil Nadu and Kerala in 1973, which provides that Kerala can utilise 2.5 tmcft water in the Bhavani basin for irrigating the Attapady valley lands in Kerala. Moreover, the Kerala plan now, would not in any way affect the flow of water to Tamil Nadu because the diversion was proposed only during the monsoon months. During summer, they claim, it is not only Coimbatore that faces shortage of drinking water, but also Attapady.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu's Cauvery dispute with Karnataka is awaiting the holding of the meeting of the Cauvery Waters Authority headed by the prime minister, and the decision of the Supreme Court thereafter.

Facing these imminent problems Jayalalithaa last week went on yet another habitual retreat to her farm in Hyderabad.

But unlike in the past, Jayalalithaa surfaced briefly in Hyderabad for a meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, ostensibly to discuss the release of 'adequate quantities' of Krishna waters to Chennai next April.

She was reported to have held a luncheon meeting with Naidu at his residence on Christmas day. She is reported to have requested him to take action for completing canal work at an early date.

While the drought and shortage of drinking water might have figured during the talks, few observers are prepared to buy the story that this was her main interest in meeting Naidu.

There is one view that Jayalalithaa, while trying to build bridges with the BJP, may also be trying to emulate Naidu in having a working relationship with the BJP without actually being part of the BJP-led government.

Incidentally other than BJP allies, she was the only state chief minister present at Narendra Modi's swearing in as chief minister of Gujarat. The Congress party boycotted the function.

She has also the uncertainty of the Tansi judgement pending in the Supreme Court.

And, in Tamil Nadu, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has apparently decided to flex its muscles and test the popularity of Jayalalithaa's AIADMK. On Friday, the party organised statewide demonstrations against the AIADMK's "anti-people policies", price rise in terms of increase in bus fare and so on, and particularly against the newly passed Anti-Conversion Act.

In Chennai, the DMK took out a procession of nearly 10,000 people which culminated in a meeting outside the Chepauk government guest house. DMK spokesmen said that the AIADMK was toeing the BJP line.

The Chennai show was presided over by Karunanidhi's son and heir-apparent, M.K. Stalin. There were rumours circulating before the demonstrations of government plans to take DMK leaders into preventive custody, so as to dampen the fervour of the party cadres.

The DMK has become more vocal against the BJP's actions.