BANGALORE, May 1: ``Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's volte-face on his earlier stand on the vexed Cauvery issue at the January 5 bilateral talks between the two states is directly linked to the release of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha from jail on January 3,'' according to Karnataka Major Irrigation Minister K N Nage Gowda.

Nage Gowda, who played a vital role during the four rounds of talks between the two states on Cauvery, told The Indian Express that it was unfortunate that a political stalwart like Karunanidhi should backtrack on the issue which had almost been settled through bilateral negotiations at the instance of the Supreme Court. ``We are back to square one'', he said ``Karunanidhi was very cordial during the first three rounds of talks and the two states had almost sorted out the problem. But on January 5, the delegation from Karnataka led by Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel was given a good dinner, besides a press release virtually saying that the issue would be resolved by the Tribunal,'' he said.

Nage Gowda said that the first meeting held at Madras, at the instance of the Supreme Court, was a cordial one. Infact, it was Karunanidhi who first telephoned to Patel and fixed the meeting, saying that they were the constituents of the United Front Government at the Centre. This was reciprocated by Patel who agreed for the meeting despite severe criticism from the opposition parties in Karnataka.

The meeting followed the release of water to Tamil Nadu amid a hue and cry by the opposition parties, including farmers from the Cauvery basin. ``I still remember Karrunanidhi's words that we are in one line....Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are ruled by the Front constituents...,''said Nage Gowda. At the second meeting at Delhi, held in the presence of Deve Gowda, it was agreed that the issue be resolved through negotiations. ``Mr Deve Gowda even said that we are all from South and must sort out the problem through negotiations,'' Nage Gowda said.

It was only during this meeting that the two states decided to install a new `veir' (measurement point) near Beligundalu, a sensitive point in the area. It was also decided that the `veir' would be managed by the Central Water Commission .

Nage Gowda said that the Delhi meeting was followed by yet another meeting at Bangalore and besides agreeing to have a `veir', it was also decided that two balancing reservoirs at Mekedatu in Karnataka and Hogenakkal in Tamil Nadu, would be set up, to be used for power and irrigation purposes. Since keeping water at Mekedatu would not serve any purpose for irrigation, Karnataka wanted to have a power project instead.

Deve Gowda had even committed himself to treat both the projects as National projects and promised to release funds from the Centre as Karunanidhi had pleaded his helplessness as far as financing the project was concerned. Karnataka Government had even agreed to give clearance for the Hogenekkal project.

The fourth meeting had discussed the quantum of water to be released to Tamil Nadu. Karnataka had argued that the interim award of 205 tmc was not practical as there was no water available when Tamil Nadu needed water. It was mutually agreed that the release of water should depend on the percentage of water available.

Tamil Nadu wanted 45 per cent for its State and Pondicherry and remaining 55 per cent to be shared between Karnataka and Kerala. After a lot of deliberations, Karnataka agreed to give 33 per cent while TN agreed for 40 per cent. TMC leader G K Moopanar too was involved in the negotiations and he too had expressed satisfaction over the progress of talks.

It was Karunanidhi who had fixed January 5 as the date for the fifth and final round of talks during his visit to Hosur Nage Gowda said that Karunanidhi was a completely changed man on January 5.

Ignoring the series of discussions on the issue in the past, he did not show any interest and wanted to avoid the talks.

Probably, Karunanidhi had become conscious of the political repercussions of the release of Jayalalitha, he said.

Tamil Nadu Public Works Minister Durai Murugan today refuted former Chief Minister J Jayalalitha accusations over the vexed Cauvery water dispute.Refuting Jayalalitha's charge that Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had failed to take steps to prevent Karnataka from constructing dams, he said the construction had begun before he assumed office as Public Works Minister in 1967 but still, he tried his level best to get the construction stopped.In a rejoinder, he said while the construction of Kabini dam began in 1958, construction of Hemavathy and Sornavathy began in 1966. Despite this, Karunanidhi registered protest with his Karnataka counterpart Veerendra Patil only in 1968, in the presence of Union Irrigation Minister K L Rao and sought the Centre's intervention to stop the construction He again held talks with the Karnataka Chief Minister on February 17, 1970 and wrote to the Centre the same day pressing for the setting up of a tribunal to resolve the issue. Again in April, May and October in 1970, Karunanidhi held talks with the chief ministers of the riparian states in Rao's presence over the storage of water in the constructed dams.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.