Vijay’s proposed visit to Bengaluru kindles public curiosity about similar missions in the mid-1980s

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s visit to Bengaluru, scheduled for August 3, has kindled public curiosity because the State had secured Cauvery water — though not the required quantum — after its emissaries undertook similar missions in the mid-1980s.The materials available with The Hindu archives reveal that during January and February 1986 and 1987, Chief Minister M.

G. Ramachandran (MGR) of the AIADMK despatched his Ministers to Bengaluru to meet their counterparts and Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde and persuade them to release water for saving the paddy crop raised during the long-term samba cultivation season.Plea to CentreIn February 1986, Ministers for Irrigation and Public Works P.

U. Shanmugam and Y.S.

M. Yusuf went to Bengaluru separately in a gap of four days to meet their counterparts and Hegde.Shanmugam’s visit took place on February 6 and his colleague’s four days later.

At that time, the State had sought 10 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft). Tamil Nadu had also requested the Centre to persuade Karnataka to come to its rescue, The Hindu reported on February 12, 1986. The upper riparian State, which was “quite appreciative” of the situation in its neighbouring State, was “unable to grant the request straight way because of the severe drought” it went through, said the report.

Two days later came another report, which stated that Karnataka had agreed to release 2.5 tmc ft in response to Tamil Nadu’s request to save the paddy crop in the Cauvery delta. On February 20, this newspaper carried an item filed from Bengaluru.

It stated that the Karnataka Chief Minister’s drought relief fund crossed the ₹2-crore mark with the receipt of a draft for ₹15 lakh from MGR.About three weeks earlier, on January 24, 1986, Finance Minister V.R.

Nedunchezhiyan intervened in the debate in the now-abolished Legislative Council on the motion of thanks to the Governor for his address. He clarified that there was “no barter deal” with Karnataka for exchanging water for power, The Hindu reported the next day.Power for waterAs against Tamil Nadu’s demand for 30 tmc ft, Karnataka released 10 tmc ft in two stages before encountering a problem in discharging another 5 tmc ft through the Kabini dam.

As it felt that its power generation would be affected if it released water from Kabini, Tamil Nadu came forward to compensate for this loss with power, Nedunchezhiyan explained.A year later, Public Works Minister K.K.

S.S.R.

Ramachandran, now in the DMK, went to Karnataka’s capital twice and met his counterpart H.D. Deve Gowda, who later became the Chief Minister of Karnataka and the Prime Minister.

He wanted 25 tmc ft, in addition to 5 tmc ft given by Karnataka earlier in the month.At his first meeting, Mr. Gowda and his officials indicated that they were ready to spare 5 tmc ft, despite the drought conditions in their State, but wanted Tamil Nadu to give in exchange a certain amount of power in view of the acute power shortage in Karnataka.

After taking his Chief Minister’s approval for the proposal, Mr. Ramachandran visited Bengaluru again to convey the State’s acceptance. A day later, Mr.

Gowda made a brief statement in the Karnataka Assembly to this effect, this newspaper reported on January 31, 1987. Published - July 28, 2026 10:23 pm IST Read Comments Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit READ LATER SEE ALL Remove Related Topics Tamil Nadu / Karnataka / water rights / Cauvery Mahapushkaram 2017