This refers to the article, “Water politics and economics” (October 28) by Kumar Chellappan. The arson and rioting over the sharing of Cauvery waters has brought to light the short-sightedness of our policymakers in bringing the adjudication and arbitration efforts to fruition. It is unfortunate that an inter-State water dispute that can at best be resolved through peaceful dialogue, has been allowed to develop into a raging controversy.
While the Union Government should be applauded for making efforts to sort out the problem between the principal players through the institutional mechanism of the Cauvery River Authority, it cannot escape the accusation of allowing the dispute to go unchecked leading to dangerous ramifications. Meanwhile, the Governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu must stop using political pulpits to fan flames of hatred by indulging in parochial opportunism.