Dharmapuri is the land of King Adhiyaman Anji, the popular patron of poetess Avvaiyyar and, therefore, figures prominently in Tamil literature and history. But its glory seems to begin and end there. The region’s drought is as old as Tamil, predating even sand and stone. This arid area is, however, a horticultural paradise and is also a minefield of granite, marble and quartz. But abject backwardness too is an enduring legacy here. Carved out of Salem in 1965, Dharmapuri contributes the maximum of just-born girls to the Government’s cradles. Krishnagiri district was created out of D’puri in 2004, but its parent’s jinxed geo genetics continue to haunt.
The proposed drinking water project is a survival issue for the people of the twin districts. The groundwater here is not potable owing to high fluoride content, which is way above WHO prescribed norms of safety. The people of these areas are already exposed to severe health hazards like dental fluorisos, which is symptomised by yellow teeth, and skeletol fluorosis which weakens the joints and bones. Continued consumption of this water will render an entire society (of over three million) and even their future generations sick for no fault of theirs barring being sons of the soil. The drinking water project seeks to deliver safe fresh water by pipes from the nearby Hogenakkal waterfalls to the fluoride-stricken populace spread over three municipalities, 17 panchayats and 18 town panchayats of D’puri and K’giri. Indeed, it is a lifeline to them.
But, politics of all hue, international, national and local, has proved more potent than fluoride overdoses. The Hogenakkal drinking water project too, is as old as, er, Dharmapuri, if not Adhiyaman. Mooted first in 1965, this project-balloon has been floating in hot, thin air ever since, thanks to some listless kite-flying by TN’s politicos. It hit an airpocket when the Japanese who had evinced interest backed out after Pokhran-2. And just when it looked all set to take off after the finalisation of Japanese aid last month, we have the Kannadiga politicos from across the ‘border’ playing project-busters. Hogenakkal is a physical and metaphorical threshold between TN and Karnataka: the Cauvery there represents the geographic border and its descent from the cliffs of Karnataka to the laps of TN symbolises the upper-riparian State’s upper hand! And the Kannadiga political classes have never failed to drive home their nature-bestowed advantage through a cocktail of legal dilly-dallying, political manoeuvring, shrill rhetoric and worst, chauvnist violence.
We are now quite aware that a turbulent Cauvery can drown and dissolve not just such lofty things like ideology and national integrity but also elementary courtesies like concern for fellow citizens, nay, humans. Why should the BJP’s CM-candidate Yediurappa, who represents an ideology that talks of protecting the Hindu samaj and promoting cultural nationalism object to ‘hindus’ living very much within Bharath partaking of clean water from a ‘holy’ river running within Bharath? Should the secular Cong, led by ex-governor-now-CM-aspirant, S.M.Krishna, be blocking the pipes and thus choking the parched throats of the minorities who form a good part of D’puri population?
Again, should the Kannadiga chauvnists themselves be so unkind to their Kannadiga bretheren to whom D’puri is a home and who actually lend ‘credence’ to their claim over that territory? But worst hit is the Centre’s authority which has gone for a toss. An elected Karnataka Government refused to entertain the Cauvery tribunal award; an elected Kerala regime is still cocking a snook at the Supreme Court on Mullaperiyar. The Centre looked the other way. But now it is the Central Government itself that is ruling Karnataka. Now, who can the Centre blame if the water project which has come to this stage only after its approval is shelved as looks likely? Besides, the Centre also looks totally powerless to defuse the war-like scenario and the daily skirmishes in the two States. Now, what credibility can one attach to such a Centre? Well, as much as MSingh’s! And that’s not much!
We move from history, geography, geology,politics and geopolitics to cinema. Here it’s showtime as usual. Only that it’s off-screen. Chepauk, to be precise, was the theatre of the live show. Start, Camera, Action and at the stroke of dawn, the fast to protest the attacks by Kannada chauvnists against Tamils, read, theatres featuring Tamil films, was on. Having thus exhibited their solidarity to the Tamil cause by waving to Tamil fans thronging the vicinity, and after obliging with photographs and autographs the stars dispersed. We are tempted to ask if the Kollywood galaxy would have been sighted had no cinema theatre been targetted in K’taka, but we will desist. But the fact is that filmdom’s call for protest came not after the water project was sought to be stalled but only after Tamil films were targetted. It naturally follows that once the curtains go up in Bangalore theatres, it will be curtains down on D’puri’s water woes: For filmdom, that will be pack up time, the ‘issue having been settled’!
But should we put up with these unwanted vulgar diversions? The last time around, when almost the entire filmdom on the lofty goal of getting Cauvery water for TN farmers, laid siege to Neyveli to ‘cut off’ power to Karnataka, the event turned out to be just a jolly outing for the stars, with the star struck populace lining the highways and venue in lakhs, throwing life out of gear. And not even a light switch was touched. Of course, Cauvery remains beyond bounds, still. The present show is just a sequel. And worse is the filmy politics on play with all artistes being called upon to declare their Tamil identity. Thankfully, there are no parallel fasts this time, for, once bitten, even super stars played it safe. But the world over, from Darfur to Tibet and from AIDS to Malaria celebrity endorsements are boomeranging on intended beneficiaries. Indeed it’s sad that D’puri’s thirst has also been turned into another tinsel tamasha!
What of our Cine Minister, pardon, Chief Minister, the rational K? Having thus been encouraged by the great response from ‘his’ fraternity, he would now forthwith write to MSingh with Kalaingar TV footages of the farcical fast attached. MSingh in turn would file the letter. The life or death problem of D’puri people would be immortalised in Government archives. The sole leader of Tamils can only do this much. For, Dharmapuri is not Kollywood to attract instant attention nor is Krishnagiri Azhagiri to elicit urgent action!
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