Vijay’s proposed visit to Bengaluru kindles public curiosity about similar missions in the mid-1980s
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s visit to Bengaluru, scheduled for August 3, has kindled public curiosity because the State had secured Cauvery water
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s visit to Bengaluru, scheduled for August 3, has kindled public curiosity because the State had secured Cauvery water — though not the required quantum — after its emissaries undertook similar missions in the mid-1980s. The materials available with The Hindu archives reveal that during January and February 1986 and 1987, Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) of the AIADMK despatched his Ministers to Bengaluru to meet their counterparts and Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde and persuade them to release water for saving the paddy crop raised during the long-term samba cultivation season. Plea to Centre In February 1986, Ministers for Irrigation and Public Works P.U. Shanmugam and Y.S.M. Yusuf went to Bengaluru separately in a gap of four days to meet their counterparts and Hegde. Shanmugam’s visit took place on February 6 and his colleague’s four days later.
At that time, the State had sought 10 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft). Tamil Nadu had also requested the Centre to persuade Karnataka to come to its rescue, The Hindu reported on February 12, 1986. The upper riparian State, which was “quite appreciative” of the situation in its neighbouring State, was “unable to grant the request straight way because of the severe drought” it went through, said the report. Two days later came another report, which stated that Karnataka had agreed to release 2.5 tmc ft in response to Tamil Nadu’s request to save the paddy crop in the Cauvery delta. On February 20, this newspaper carried an item filed from Bengaluru. It stated that the Karnataka Chief Minister’s drought relief fund crossed the ₹2-crore mark with the receipt of a draft for ₹15 lakh from MGR.
About three weeks earlier, on January 24, 1986, Finance Minister V.R. Nedunchezhiyan intervened in the debate in the now-abolished Legislative Council on the motion of thanks to the Governor for his address. He clarified that there was “no barter deal” with Karnataka for exchanging water for power, The Hindu reported the next day. Power for water As against Tamil Nadu’s demand for 30 tmc ft, Karnataka released 10 tmc ft in two stages before encountering a problem in discharging another 5 tmc ft through the Kabini dam. As it felt that its power generation would be affected if it released water from Kabini, Tamil Nadu came forward to compensate for this loss with power, Nedunchezhiyan explained. A year later, Public Works Minister K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, now in the DMK, went to Karnataka’s capital twice and met his counterpart H.D. Deve Gowda, who later became the Chief Minister of Karnataka and the Prime Minister.
The BriefWire