Issue 13 | 10 Feb. 2007

Will Cauvery take Shine off Silicon City?

Instead of clearing the confusion, the Cauvery water verdict has only added to it. No one really knows who has emerged as the winner. It's like a one-day cricket match which has concluded, and no one knows who won or who lost, and even whether it was a tie!

Of course, there are reports in the media which suggest that Tamil Nadu has got a better deal, while Karnataka hasn't done badly either. But for every such report, there is another expert who says the exact opposite.
Given the electoral and emotive appeal of the Cauvery issue, you can only take what the politicians say with a pinch of salt.

The Congress is ruling at the Centre, and the DMK, which is ruling in TN, is its strongest ally. So it can only shed crocodile tears over Cauvery water, and try its best to exploit the public sentiments and embarrass the ruling JD(S)-BJP government in the State.

The BJP and the JD(S) have little stake in TN, so they can afford to up the ante, but as part of the ruling coalition, can only go thus far and no further; they can only rock the boat, but not topple it.

As for the opinion of the experts, it can be easily simplified and summarized as follows: 1) All experts endorse and support the stand of their respective States b) Those who have no stake in the issue are taking the most hardline position c) Those who have a soft corner for the Congress/secular parties and who harbour an antipathy for the BJP are broadly for the Tribunal's verdict (eg: Girish Karnad).

As of now, the Karnataka Government is inclined to press for a review of the Tribunal Award. Kerala too is likely to follow suit as it too has expressed its unhappiness at the award. In a rather surprising develoment, the Tamil Nadu government too announced its decision to file a review petition on Thursday, seeking to redress some of the grievances in the final verdict. So whatever the apprehensions of Karnataka, the status quo will be maintained for the present.

What about B'lore?

While everyone is talking about the interests of farmers, few people are talking about the impact of the Tribunal Award on Bangalore. The city is totally dependent on Cauvery for its supply of drinking water and the estimated quantity of water required per year is 48 tmc (thousand million cubic) feet. Once the Award is implemented, taps in Bangalore are certain to go dry.

Already, the situation in the city is grim, with the scarcity of drinking water accentuated by growing demand on the other had. This has forced the BWSSB to do what no other city in the country has attempted so far - promote dual use of water - a first of its kind in the country. Dual use of water means there will be separate pipelines for supplying drinking water and recycled water for non-drinking purpose.

Bangalore's population has crossed the 7-million mark and the demand for water is now 1.2 billion litres per day (BLD). However, the quantity of water available per day is 930 million litres per day (MLD). Which is one of the main reasons why the people of Bangalore are getting water supply on alternate days. The problem is even more severe when you take into account the huge amount of water that is lost by way of illegal tapping and leakage which, is said to be as high as 39%.
The BWSSB also cannot tap other sources of drinking water because it has already exhausted all available sources of drinking water. At present it draws 148 MLD of water from Thippagondanahalli reservoir and 810 MLD from Cauvery river.
If this is terrifying enough, you can imagine the situation that can arise in Bangalore in the aftermath of the Tribunal Award…