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Interrogating Cauvery Calling
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Asian College of Journalism
2:20
The panelists are up on stage. We have G. Sundarajan and Piyush Manush as panelists and the panel will be chaired by Bhargavi S. Bittu Saigal and R. Nagendran will be joining us through video conference.
2:25
Bittu Sahgal begins the discussion by saying that we're in trouble today. He says, "We are essentially bucked up monkeys. Right now we're trying to change the country that will completely destroy the future of this subcontinent. In the course of your discussions, I want to put one more solution to the solutions that have come up today."
2:27
Sahgal adds, "All these three rivers are controlled by the magical ecosystem around us. And we have a problem in India as we don't have much water. Politicians have to steal water from corporates."
2:29
He further says that if we improve the catchment areas , the floods as well as the droughts can be controlled.
2:31
R. Nagendran begins his talk and says, "Emotional approach won't help us in restoring Cauvery River. What we need is our knowledge."
2:33
Nagendran continues, "Unless we have time traced data collected using international standards, we can't move ahead. Without Policy modifications we cannot move ahead. We should make a road map for extraction."
2:34
"The problem is when this extraction goes beyond a threshold, all the problems faced by people will come ashore," warns Nagendran.
2:37
"What role has the judiciary played in maintaining the integrity of river system?" asks Nagendran.
2:38
He says that the court stalled an airport project in Kerala since it was diverting the riverine flow, which would have resulted in ecological disaster.
2:40
Nagendran adds that the water from industrial usage and mixing of Cauvery water is a problem that was brought forward. There have been cases of trees being felling for highways and railways which have been stopped .
2:41
He concludes by saying that only when all the stakeholders, judiciary and society will be on the same page, will they be able to draw a roadmap and can restore Cauvery to its original glory.
2:42
Nagendran warns that without scientific data, mere plantation on river banks will wreak havoc.
2:45
2:49
Piyush Manush begins by talking about the lies being spread by the people spearheading "Rally for Rivers".
According to Piyush Manush, tree planting is not an evil practice practice, but the fact that it's not being done properly is affecting the surrounding environment.
2:50
2:51
G. Sundarajan draws our attention to the farmer suicide situation.He says, "In January 2007, farmer Vijay Kumar hanged himself  and another farmer had a heart attack. Farmers' suicide is very new to Tamil Nadu."
2:53
"Groundwater is getting contaminated on which farmers depend. Cauvery delta is sinking, large areas are below sea level, Cauvery will not flow just with plantation of trees", adds Sundarajan.
2:55
Sundarajan also warns that we will only see things getting worse as long as practices like mining of crude oil and other similar products with a single license keep going.
He finishes his point by saying that until and unless we talk about the extraction companies we will never see the glory of Cauvery back.
2:57
Bhargavi S. asks Piyush Manush about other metals and minerals that are being mined.
2:59
"There's a lot of mining that has taken place in Tamil Nadu by Jindal and a lot of other organisations. People did come out together to voice their opinions but these mining lobbies started getting stronger by the day. Road projects have been called off at a lot of places," answers Piyush Manush.
3:01
"Form a comprehensive policy where environment should be the priority", implores Sundarajan, adding that a Hydrocarbon project will be more of a curse than a blessing for the residents of the Cauvery delta.
3:03
Can the extraction of minerals in the Cauvery delta be stopped by enforcing stricter mining laws?
Yes (100% | 6 votes)
 
No (0% | 0 votes)
 
Total Votes: 6
3:06
Piyush Manush says that linking of river and shifting of water results in the people ultimately getting deprived of water. With regard to inter state conflicts, he criticises Jaggi Vasudev's actions about the subsidies for reviving Cauvery. Manush further states that he will get signatures from the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for subsidies but he claims that no action has been taken in this regard as of now.
3:07
"We need to wake up and do our bit to stop all kinds of extraction", concludes Bhargavi S.
3:11
We have reached the end of this discussion. Stay tuned for the rest of the coverage.
3:17
The delegates have taken a break. The next panel discussion is on 'Securing food and livelihood security in Cauvery basin'. The seminar will resume on 2:15. Stay tuned.
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