BANGALORE, July 8: Former Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde said here yesterday that the Centre's draft scheme on the Cauvery River Authority should be rejected.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Kannada Shakti Kendra, Hegde said the draft scheme deserved to be torn to shreds. Karnataka should formulate an alternative plan, details of which should be kept secret, he added. Observing that the draft scheme was ``impracticable'' and ``unilateral'', Hegde said he had never come across such a notification. ``It appears as though Tamil Nadu officials have drafted it.''

The State Government was weak in all respects. It failed to impress its point of view before the Centre, Cauvery Waters Dispute Tribunal (CWDT) and before the Supreme Court. While Tamil Nadu lawyers took personal interest to argue for their State, Karnataka lawyers appear to have worked for their fees alone, Hegde charged.

The Karnataka representative at Delhi should have alerted the State on the issue. After the draft was publicised, the State's was late in responding. The Chief Minister reacted reluctantly. ``I did not know that he was such a reactionary,'' he said.

Hegde said during his tenure as CM, his Tamil Nadu counterpart, the late M G Ramachandran had agreed to Karnataka using 365 tmc ft of Cauvery water. From 1983 to 1990, Karnataka only released 5 tmc ft of water now and then. ``Subsequent Chief Ministers made declarations that they would not release a drop of water to TN. This resulted in the Supreme Court directing the setting up of the Tribunal,'' he said. According to the draft, the State should not cultivate more than 11.2 lakh acres while TN had no such restriction, he pointed out. About 150 tmc ft of water flows into the sea from TN and 100 tmc ft gets evaporated.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.