Farmers, Opposition sceptical about SC hearing on Cauvery dispute

Despite the state government expressing confidence that they could get a verdict to win the Cauvery rights, farmers outfits said that the Centre is unlikely to come out with a solution when the Karnataka Assembly election campaign is on and opine that the Supreme Court itself should take up the procedure for setting up the Cauvery Management Board instead of passing orders to the Union government. 

Unmindful of the court hearing, the opposition parties are bracing up for the next round of agitations indicating that they do not foresee any positive development immediately.

Coordinator of Federation of All Tamil Nadu Farmers Associations PR Pandian said the Supreme Court itself should take steps to form the board since it required only the formation of a committee of experts as per the verdict of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. The court itself could call for a list of experts from the Centre and states and form the board.

Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader TTV Dhinakaran too is of the view that nothing would come out of the Supreme Court hearing as the Centre is unlikely to give a solution. He also expressed doubts if the board would be set up even after the Karnataka Assembly elections. “The BJP government may wait till the 2019 Parliament elections since it has the scope of winning Parliamentary seats in Karnataka. The only solution for the Cauvery water dispute is to remove the BJP government at the Centre in the next Lok Sabha elections,” he said.

Sharing the negative opinion, MDMK general secretary said neither the Centre nor the Supreme Court would solve the problems of Tamil Nadu farmers. The state is staring at a serious crisis from all sides including Cauvery dispute, he told reporters here.