From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Nov 29: Bilateral talks between the Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, which were held in Bangalore on the vexed Cauvery river water sharing dispute after a long gap of 15 years on Thursday following the direction of the Supreme Court, failed to break the deadlock as both the States stuck to their rigid position.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK Supremo J Jayalalithaa, who flew in at the Bangalore’s old HAL airport this afternoon along with her entourage, remained adamant on Karnataka releasing 32 tmcft of water over the next 15 days to save the State’s samba crops.
However, the Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar expressed the State’s inability to spare any water as it had to meet the requirements of the farmers as also the drinking water needs of Bangalore and Mysore as the reservoirs in Karnataka did not have enough storage due to the failure of monsoon.
Jayalalithaa, who briefly spoke to reporters at the end of the failed meeting, blamed Karnataka for accepting her government’s request to save the standing samba crops and help the farmers.
''We requested release of 32 tmcft of water over the next 15 days. But Karntaka refused to spare even a single drop of water,” she said pointing out that her government was left with no alternative but to approach the apex court again, which is hearing the issue on Friday.
Jayalalithaa said: ''We will inform the Supreme Court about the outcome of today’s meeting held at its behest.”
The apex court had on Monday directed the chief ministers of both States to hold talks and arrive at an amicable solution to the sharing of the Cauvery water in the larger interests of farmers of both the States.
Ahead of the meeting, Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar expressed confidence of finding a solution. ''We will convince the neighbouring State of our position and inability to heed its request for water,” he said.
The last meeting between the Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu was held in 1997 when DMK chief M Karunanidhi and Janata Dal’s J H Patel were in power. The meeting was held in Chennai.
The Karnataka delegation comprised of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister R Ashok, who is also handling Home and Transport portfolios, Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development Minister S Suresh Kumar, Chief Secretary S V Ranganath, Additonal Chief Secretary Subhir Harisingh, Chief Minister’s Principal Secretaries Pradeep Singh Karola and M Lakshminarayaan, Chief Minister’s Economic Advisor K V Raju, Water Resources Department Secretary Satyamurthy, DPAR Principal Secretary Sanjiv Kumar, WRD Secretary Gurupadaswamy and Advisors Capt Raja Rao, Raghuram and Manu.
The Tamil Nadu delegation comprised of Public Works Minister K V Ramalingam, Chief Secretary Debendranath Saranghi, chief minister’s secretaries A Ramalingam and K N Venkataramanan, Public Works Department Secretary M Saikumar, Cauvery Authority Chairman R Subramaniam and senior officer Ram Mohan.