DMK moves Supreme Court over Cauvery, slams Vijay's 'solo' strategy

CHENNAI: Building pressure on the State government over the Cauvery water crisis, the DMK on Saturday (August 1) approached the Supreme Court seeking immediate implementation of statutory orders directing Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu, while party president MK Stalin accused Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay of isolating himself politically by pursuing bilateral talks instead of building a united front.

The petition, filed by AKS Vijayan, secretary of the DMK's Farmers' Wing, sought urgent directions to Karnataka to implement the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's July 28 order, affirmed by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on July 30, by releasing 3,500 cusecs of water daily at Biligundlu for 15 days and making good the shortfall from July 29 onwards.

The DMK also sought directions to Karnataka to clear the accumulated backlog of about 9.46 tmc ft due at Biligundlu as of July 26 through releases of around 7,000 cusecs a day for 15 days. It further requested the apex court to direct the CWMA to monitor reservoir releases and daily inflows at Biligundlu and submit compliance reports. The party has also sought to implead itself and the CWMA in the pending Cauvery case before the Supreme Court.

Arguing that lakhs of Cauvery delta farmers were facing severe hardship due to Karnataka's continued non-compliance with binding statutory directions, the DMK urged the apex court to intervene immediately to safeguard farmers' livelihoods and enforce its earlier judgment.

The legal move came hours after Stalin launched a political offensive against Vijay, alleging that the Chief Minister had mishandled the Cauvery dispute by pursuing an individual approach rather than forging political consensus and by not heeding demands to convene an all-party meeting.

Stalin said leaders of political parties and farmers' organisations had cautioned Vijay against holding one-to-one talks with Karnataka over the Mekedatu project and had instead urged him to convene an all-party meeting in Tamil Nadu.

Stalin said Karnataka Chief Minister's decision to first invite Vijay for talks and later ask him not to visit, while convening an all-party meeting in Karnataka on August 2, demonstrated that political parties in the neighbouring State were united in protecting Karnataka's interests.

Maintaining that only a legal battle could secure Tamil Nadu's rightful share of Cauvery water, Stalin alleged that Karnataka continued to treat Tamil Nadu as a recipient only of surplus water and said the recent CWMA direction vindicated the DMK's stand. "We foresaw these developments and therefore urged the Chief Minister to convene an all-party meeting. Will he do so now?" he asked.