Cauvery and IPL

With refernce to ‘Unquiet flows the Cauvery’ (April 11), 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 over linguistic chauvinism and regional identity. While the Centre should be applauded for making efforts to sort out the problem between 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 undesirable and dangerous ramifications.

This is particularly true after its failure to avoid face-off between Punjab and Haryana over the construction of Sutlej-Yamuna link canal. It is time the State governments in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu stopped using political pulpits to fan flames of hatred by indulging in parochial opportunism. The Cauvery Tribunal’s 2007 award should be revisited to recalibrate the share of each riparian state based on a rainfall-linked formula.

New Delhi

Unfazed by the vociferous calls of major political parties as well as fringe groups, the fans gathered in large numbers to cheer the Chennai Super Kings, risking their own safety (’Cauvery protesters play spoilsport as city hosts IPL’, April 11). Millions of fans in the State would also have watched the match over television.

It brings out the question whether the political parties which called for cancellation of the game are out of sync with realities on the ground. They need to introspect why their sentiments on Cauvery are not shared by a section of non-partisan people from its own State. The fact is that while the people of Tamil Nadu are willing to stand shoulder to shoulder for the cause of Cauvery, at the same time, are not favourably disposed to disruptions to events which provide them entertainment. For them, there is a huge disconnect between cricket as a sport and Cauvery as a political issue. They do not want to mix up the two and have demonstrated that their support cannot be taken for granted by whipping up emotions to score political gains over one against the other on a sensitive issue.

A word of praise is also due to the Police Deapartment that ensured conduct of the game against all odds.

Chennai

With reference to ‘Discom’s rooftop moment’ (April 11). The rapid growth of unconventional energy is borne out by competing low cost in on going solar power agreements. In addition, the intermittent nature of their generation pulls down their offer price as it still has limited customer support. Once the on going research on mass storage fructifies in the near future, demand for solar will go up but so would costs, as the cost of storage could be very high initially.

The reliance on conventional energy sources will have to continue for a long time. But they require heavy and time consuming maintenance unlike solar energy. Solar power will provide the vital relief to an overloaded grid and feed in the shortfall during planned maintenance downtime of the majors.

This sets up an ideal combination for a healthier and more reliable power grid. . As viable power storage technologies come to occupy prominence,discoms will be needed to cater to an expanding geography.

Mumbai

With refernce to ‘Why Chanda Kochhar must resign’ April11), in law a person is innocent till proven guilty, but we tend to judge a person guilty till proved innocent. Chanda Kochhar’s case lie in that territory. But there are a few questions that need answers. Did the ICICI Bank Board give a clean chit to Chanda Kochhar in a hurry? And why did the board seek an independent inquiry into an issue which goes back to 2012? In the larger interests of the staff and investors, Kochhar can take a temporary break and let someone else take over till the issues is sorted out.

Noida