The ambitious Cauvery IV Stage II project has found no takers. Five months after its launch in October 2012, the board has managed only 43,513 connections against 1,04,272 applications, a far cry from the estimated two lakh connections.

The lukewarm response has put the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) in a fix, which is unable to raise enough money to pay its energy bill.Besides the newly added areas, the project was also intended to stabilise water supply in core areas.

Promises action on Tribunal order

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday assured a delegation of DMK MPs here that he would hold discussions with Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat on the setting up of Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), as ordered by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT), in its final order to guarantee its strict compliance.

Relief to be disbursed immediately through PAC societies.

With the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) taking effect on the date of its publication in the gazette (February 19), the Union Ministry of Water Resources has sought the Law Ministry’s opinion on how to implement it till the formation of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

Though setting up the Board is mandatory, it will take a long time as the process has to start from scratch and needs the approval of the Union Cabinet. So, the Ministry has sought the legal opinion on the mechanism to be adopted to implement the final award till the formation of the Board, sources in the Ministry told Deccan Herald.

Water tangle: Agro-climatic condition in seven districts in Cauvery basin likely to change

The entire agro-climatic condition in the Cauvery basin area covering seven districts of Karnataka is likely to undergo a change if the contentious final award of the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal (CRDT) is implemented in toto. It is feared that the command areas under key irrigation projects of KRS, Kabini, Hemavathi and Harangi reservoirs would shrink drastically, forcing the farmers, especially those in tail-end areas, to go in for a change in crop pattern. For, the quantum of water allocated by the Tribunal to each of the major projects is far below the existing irrigation potential.

Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board chairperson Gaurav Gupta assessing water availability at TK Halli Pump House, on Wednesday, quelled fears of a water crisis this summer.

Speaking to reporters at the pump house on the outskirts of the City, he said: “Unlike previous years, the situation on the water front this year will not be grim, despite low rainfall.”

For effective implementation of final award

Having passed through the stage of notification of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal’s final award, the State government is going to seek immediate establishment of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) for effective implementation of the award. The CMB will form part of a scheme that has to be framed by the Union government. The Tribunal, in the final award given in February 2007, suggested the creation of the CMB and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee.

A day before the expiry of the deadline set by the Supreme Court, the Centre on Tuesday took steps to notify the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal allocating the quantum of waters to the Cauvery basin States of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala and Union territory of Puducherry.

Water Resources Secretary S.K. Sarkar signed the notification for publication in the official gazette, which is said to be in the process. The CWDT order attempts to settle the 120-year-old dispute on the sharing of the Cauvery waters. Karnataka has opposed the gazette notification of the final order.

The state delegation led by chief minister Jagadish Shettar urged prime minister Manmohan Singh not to constitute the Cauvery Management Board.