Rajkumar POrel. M.sc Geography

1. Name = Rajkumar Porel. Roll No = 91. Subject = Geography.
Course = M.Sc, Semester = 3rd.
Institution Name = Bhairab Ganguly College.
Question :- Discuss The Major Factors Involve With The Kaveri
River Water Dispute ?
Introduction:-
The sharing of waters of the Kaveri River has beenan apple of discordbetweenthe Indian
states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The genesis of this conflict rests intwoagreementsin
1892 and 1924 betweenthe erstwhileMadras Presidency andPrincely State of Mysore. The
Kaveri River distanced 802 kilometres whose 44,000 km2
basinareais in Tamil Nadu and
32,000 km2
basinareas is in Karnataka.

2. The Kaveri River has beena source of conflict betweenthe states of Karnataka andTamil
Nadu for over 124 years. The primary quarrel, in this case, has always been about the sharing
and distribution of water of Kaveri River between the two states. Over the years, repeated
attempts fromboth the states and central governments havefailed to resolvethis dispute
which has now transformedintoregional conflict now. The Kaveri Water Disputehas become
a very sensitive topic for common people of both the states who now regard treat it as a fight
for regional supremacy between the two states.
Why Kaveri Water Dispute Is So Important?
 Kaveri water is vitally important for both the states as people from Karnataka depend
upon it to satisfy their drinking needs, whereas farmersfrom Kaveri delta in Tamil
Nadu depend upon it for agriculture andlivelihood.
 The fight for Kaveri river water become even more important during rainfall deficient
years, as the entire basindeltaof the Kaveri River falls under the drought prone area.
Therefore, Kaveri river water is the only source of water in this region.
 As far as water resources areconcerned, around 53% of Cauvery water resources fall
within the geographic boundaries of Karnataka, whereas only 30% of water resources
fall within the geographicalborders of Tamil Nadu.
 On the other hand, 54% of river basin area (the portion of land drained by the river) lies
in the state of Tamil Nadu, whereas only 42% of Cauvery river basin area is in
Karnataka.
 As per the facts provided above, Karnataka claims more rights over Kaveri water as the
river originates in the state and they hold 53% of water resources fall within their state.
Some Major Factors Behind Kaveri Water Dispute:-
Geographical location:
If welook at the map of India, we will notice that the 765-km-long river cuts across two
Indian states, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Itoriginates at TalaKaveri in Kodagu district in
Karnataka. While it flows mainly through Karanataka and Tamil Nadu, a lot of its basin area
is covered by Kerala and the Karaikalarea of Puducherry.
The river water is distributed as follows:
95 percent withTamil Nadu and Karnataka.
5 percent remaining togoto Kerala and Puducherry.
For this naturally unequal distributionof river flow, it’s createdaproblemautomatically
betweenthose states. Thereal problem started after the re-organisation of states postIndian
independence. Before that, most matters weresettled through arbitration and agreements.

3. Irrigation:
The primary uses of Kaveri is providing water for irrigation, water for household
consumption and the generationof electricity. An estimate at the time of the first FiveYear
Plan puts the total flow of the Kaveri at 15 cubic kilometres (12,000,000acre·ft), of which 60
percent was used for irrigation. The water for the Kaveriis primarily supplied by monsoon
rains. Dams, such as the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam and Mettur Dam, and those on its tributaries
such as Banasura Sagar Dam projecton a Kabini tributary, storewater frommonsoon periods
and release the water during the dry months. In some years when rains are light, the low
river level canleadto agricultural distressinareas dependent uponthe Kaveri for irrigation.
Origin and political involvement:
The debate over sharing Kaveriwater predates to the late British era (1890s), wherein the
Mysoreprincely state and the Chennai presidency (which was under the British Raj) had to
come into terms with agreeing on a divide. The contentionreally arose when, in1910, both
states starteddevising plans for constructionof dams. The British arbitrated the issue and
defined the respectiveshares of water, and as to what area of farming lands are to be
supported by these. A highly controversial agreement was arrivedat, in1924, andwas
designedtocontinue for the following 50 years.
In essence, it is not that the issuehas been 'created' for political gains, although arguably, it
can serveto providepolitical mileage in both the states, as a measure to 'win the favor'of the

4. farmers in the states. In the case of this issue, typically eachof the states act as one united
entity totry and ease the situationfor farmers in their ownrespectivestates.
Facts on sharing:
In the 1970s, the KaveriFact Finding Committee dug up the core facts around sharing, as the
historic 1924 agreement was coming to a close (scheduled to expire 50 years fromback then).
By this time, Tamil Nadu’s irrigatedlands had grown from an area of 1,440,000acres to
2,580,000 acres while Karnataka’s irrigatedareastoodat 680,000 acres. This meant that,
Tamilnadu needed the larger shareof the water to continue, to be able to sustain its existing
agricultural activity. Karnataka's stand on this matter however, is that this pattern came into
existence becauseof the unfavorableBritish agreement in the first place.
The current situation:-
Over the past 2 sensitivedecades, the SupremeCourt and the Kaveri River Authority have
intervened on severaloccasions to have the states agree on the right splits. Highly dramatic
situations have occurred at times, with suicides and ministers walking out of important meet-
ups without helping reach resolution easily. In 2002, whenmonsoons failed, SC rulings have
at times beenexplicitly disobeyed. Once, Karnataka gavein to the protests of its farmers and
stopped the release of water as agreed. Tamilnadu saw protests at Neyveli seeking for cuts of
Power supply to Karnataka. NLC, being centrally owned did not disruptpower, but a minor
incident occurred wherein a transmission tower was blasted by miscreants - Tamilnadu
vehicles wereprevented entry into Karnataka. The situation looked out of hand all that year.
However, the situation currently is beginning to build up tension again, owing to insufficient
monsoons. It is tobe notedthat, Kerala too is now involvedinthe controversies, giventheir
share of Kaveri (withthe tributary Kabini originating intheir state).
Conclusion:-
In the absence of copious monsoons, itlooks impossiblethat both states can be given
'sufficient' shares to keep farmers happy. How about'fair' shares? This looks difficult too,
given the 'history of the problem', the definition of 'fairness'itself depending on each state's
perspectives on the matter. There is a lot of history and heartburns on both the sides.
The long-term solution definitely needs to involvesignificant alternate sources of water for
farmers in both the states, a lot of rain-water harvesting inall villages, in additiontoagreeing
on a divide proportional tothe farmer needs inboth the states, leaving history behind. The
last part is in the hands of the political powers.
At last we can say that- through those essential steps, the problem of water dispute can be
mitigate.