BANGALORE, June 27: The Karnataka Government today declared that it would reject the draft scheme framed by the Centre to constitute the Cauvery River Authority, lending a new dimension to the raging Cauvery row with Tamil Nadu.

Affirming that the scheme would render injustice to Karnataka, major irrigation minister, K N Nage Gowda, told reporters that the State would file its objections after taking all the parties into confidence.

He said there was no need to constitute an enforcement authority to give effect to the interim order of the Cauvery water disputes tribunal which, among others, provided for release of 205 TMC ft of water to Tamil Nadu every year.

Nage Gowda said the state had not accepted the interim award passed in 1991 as it was not practical to implement it and the distress formula also had not been finalised by the tribunal.

Besides, he said, the tribunal had also not given its final award on the Cauvery issue and Karnataka had always been pressing for a negotiated settlement.

Nage Gowda cited that seasonal conditions had also changed, with the rainfall now being received from July onwards instead of June as was the position earlier.He said soon after the return of the Chief Minister, J H Patel, who is on a tour of UK and USA, an all party meeting would be convened to finalise the state's future course of action.

Nage Gowda said the Cauvery cell in the state government had already studied the scheme in detail and legal experts had been consulted.He said since the Cauvery water disputes tribunal had only passed an interim order which could not be considered as a report, there was no need to constitute an enforcement authority as the cauvery river authority.

The Union ministry of water resources, which had sent the draft scheme, had given six weeks time to file objections of which four weeks have already passed.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.