BENGALURU:
Amid the Cauvery dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that the state will argue the matter in the Supreme Court while stating that the petition filed by Tamil Nadu is not maintainable.
Siddaramaiah said, “Karnataka will argue the matter because Tamil Nadu filed a petition asking the release of water, but the petition is not maintainable as the Supreme Court has already given a verdict on the Cauvery dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on February 5, 2018”.
The matter has been a controversial issue between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for decades and the two states have been locked in a battle over the sharing of Cauvery river water, which is a major source of irrigation and drinking water for millions of people in the region.
“In normal years, we have to release 177.25 tmcft of water, but in distress situations, it is not defined yet what ‘distress’ means?” the CM added.
#WATCH | “Karnataka will argue the matter because Tamil Nadu filed a petition asking the release of water but the petition by Tamil Nadu is not maintainable as SC has already given a verdict on the Cauvery dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on 5th February 2018…”:… pic.twitter.com/r4S41zfzV2
— ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2023
On Wednesday, an all-party meeting, chaired by the Chief Minister to discuss the Cauvery river water dispute, was held at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, former CMs and BJP leaders B S Yediyurappa, Basavaraj Bommai, D V Sadananda Gowda, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, Lok Sabha MPs Sumalatha Ambareesh, D K Suresh and several other leaders were present in the meeting.
Tamil Nadu in its fresh application sought direction to the State of Karnataka to immediately release 24,000 cusecs from its reservoirs and ensure the availability of the specified quantity of water at Biligundlu on the inter-state border for the remainder of the month for meeting the pressing demands of the standing crops.
It also urged the top court to direct Karnataka to ensure the release of 36.76 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) stipulated for September 2023 as per the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT)’s final award of February 2007 that was modified by the Supreme Court in 2018.
The application said that a direction was given to Karnataka on August 10 to release from its reservoirs 15,000 cusecs at Billigundulu on August 11 for 15 days. (ANI)
