It does not occur to the trouble-makers that not a drop of water can be ‘manufactured’ by senseless violence. The country’s water resource is finite and has to be shared equitably. Violence goes only perpetuates violence. The State governments cannot let fringe elements take the law into their hands.

The Supreme Court’s modified order takes a balanced view and has to be accepted by both the States. Each side may believe and claim that it has got a raw deal. The apex court may not have been left with any viable option other than “less water for more days”. The Cauvery row is a collective failure of political leadership. The bitterness and parochialism shown by the States that hurt relations strengthen the case for nationalisation of rivers.

G David Milton

Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Update water policy

This is with reference to ‘A centralised approach to water disputes’ by Yoginder K Alagh (September 12). The division of States and water-sharing arrangement are based on 1920s data. The demography and agrarian zones have since changed their dynamics and rainfall has become more erratic. In these circumstances, the water management policy has to be reworked. The idea of linking rivers should be discussed and implemented. Economical use of water through modern irrigation techniques and incentivisation of water conservation and harvesting are important.

Rahul J Gautam

Bengaluru

Surge pricing could work

The move to introduce surge pricing on premium train services deserves a qualified welcome. The flexi-fare that envisages a revenue of ₹500 crore should scare no one, especially those who feel that government enterprises should not look for profits, though efficiency should improve. Surge pricing should be dynamic, which means fares falling during lean times. Besides, the railways must ensure refunds on time and improved services.

J Akshay

Bengaluru

Joint effort

This refers to ‘Is Urjit Patel really a hawk?’ by TB Kapali (September 12). Even before fixing an inflation target within a band of 2 and 6 per cent, it was the key responsibility of the RBI to ensure financial stability, and inflation control is an essential to that. So to maintain financial stability any central bank has to ensure inflation control within acceptable levels. Now it has been made explicit that the acceptable level is between 2 and 6 per cent. Interest rate as well as the level of inflation depend on the level of supply and demand of goods and services as well as money in circulation. The Centre being a major spender and tax collector influences money supply. Hence the coordinated effort of the Government and the central bank is required to control inflation and thereby maintain financial stability. The RBI alone cannot take responsibility for this.

S Kalyanasundaram

Email

Implementation of GST

The GST rollout is the biggest reform in recent years. It aims to tax almost the entire GDP of the country; the revenues of the Centre and States will truly reflect GDP growth. Centralisation of indirect taxes will successfully end tax evasion. The Centre should consider abolition of personal income tax thereby paving the way for higher spend on productive investments. The results will definitely be beneficial and will check black money. The resultant loss of revenue if any can be easily made good by a small mark-up in the GST rate that is being debated now.

S Sundar

Chennai

Flipkart clarifies

With reference to the report ‘Flipkart to sack 800 more amidst gloomy biz outlook’ (September 10), Flipkart said, in a statement, that “the information is totally false, baseless and untrue. We completely and unequivocally deny any such move from Flipkart.”

Our Bengaluru Bureau writes : We stand by the report that was published after receiving information from, and cross-checking with, three independent sources involved with the layoffs.

The Editor

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Send your letters by email to bleditor@thehindu.co.in or by post to ‘Letters to the Editor’, The Hindu Business Line, Kasturi Buildings, 859-860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002.

Published on September 12, 2016