Cauvery dispute: "Tamil Nadu needs a courageous CM...", says Tamil Maanila Congress on Cauvery water dispute

Lakhs of people depend on the water of the Kaveri River in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. This river is called the Ganges of South India. The dispute over the Kaveri River has been going on for many years in both states. Tamil Manila Congress General Secretary AS Munavwar Basha said on Tuesday that the Cauvery dispute has been going on for a long time. This kind of dispute between two states on this river for years shows that there is no "courageous" Chief Minister in the state. This taunt of AS Munawar Basha is being seen as an attack on MK Stalin.

The reaction of Manila Congress general secretary AS Munawwar Basha came a day after the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) passed an interim order to Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days till September 2.

He also said that the Karnataka government, led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Congress, is not releasing Cauvery water, despite being coalition partners in the opposition bloc India.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Basha said that it is a victory for the farmers here. But at the same time, the Karnataka government will not follow the instructions as we do not have a courageous chief minister in Tamil Nadu. That is why this (Kaveri issue) happened. Had he (MK Stalin) been a courageous chief minister, he would have got water released for the state without any commission or court's direction."

He further said, "They (DMK) are allies in the opposition alliance India, but the Karnataka government is not giving water to Tamil Nadu. How will the people of Tamil Nadu vote for the India alliance?"

Basavaraj Engin, the leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, said the panel's order was nothing but "pushing farmers into a debt trap". Engin further said "The recent order of the CWRC to the Government of Karnataka is nothing more than to push the farmers into debt trap... When Karnataka has no water other than Cauvery, the question of releasing water should not have arisen. Now the Karnataka government will have to fight hard."

This matter has been a contentious issue between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for decades and there is a fight going on between them over the sharing of Kaveri river water. The river is a major source of irrigation and drinking water for millions of people in the region.

The Center constituted the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on June 2, 1990, to settle disputes between Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Puducherry regarding water-sharing capabilities.

The Kaveri is an interstate basin that originates in Karnataka and passes through Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.