Cauvery: Karnataka to seek legal opinion

The all-party meeting convened by Karnataka on Wednesday to discuss the Cauvery Tribunal's final award decided to consult legal experts on filing a review petition.

Another all-party meeting will be held within a week to take a final decision on the next course of action.

Leaders of all political parties, legislators and MPs from the Cauvery basin and farmers, who attended the meeting, expressed anguish over the verdict.

"We have no option other than filing a review petition to question the verdict. It has to be done in a very careful manner for which we intend to consult legal experts. Within a week, another meeting of all-party leaders will be convened to announce our final stand on implementing the verdict," Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy told reporters after the meeting.

He said the government had 'disowned' the opinion expressed by its counsel that the verdict was 'fair'. "That is the opinion of the advocate. It is in no way the official reaction of the government. It is our right to seek remedy since the verdict is against the state's interests," he added.

The Cauvery Water Disputes tribunal on Monday delivered its final award increasing Tamil Nadu's share from 205 tmcft in the 1991 interim order to 419 tmcft. Karnataka's share is pegged at 270 tmcft while Kerala and Pondicherry have been awarded 30 tmcft and 7 tmcft respectively.

"It is everybody's opinion that injustice has been meted out to Karnataka and the same has already been conveyed to the authorities concerned," Kumaraswamy stated.

In view of the prevailing situation, the World Kannada Meet scheduled between February 22 and 24 at Belgaum, has been deferred indefinitely.