BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednsday said that Karnataka will seek to reduce the quantum of Cauvery river water being released to neighbouring Tamil Nadu by making the Supreme Court understand the “situation” prevailing in the state.
On Friday, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the Tamil Nadu government’s plea seeking a direction to Karnataka to release 24,000 cusecs of water daily starting from August 14 till the end of the month from the reservoirs in Karnataka.
“I’m going to Delhi tomorrow to meet our legal team. The hearing (on TN’s plea on Cauvery water) will be on Friday. Already, our department officials argued very well after Tamil Nadu demanded 24-25 tmcft. We said we can give 3,000 cusecs”, DK Shivakumar said.
“We will discuss how much we can reduce (water released to Tamil Nadu) by making the court understand the situation prevailing in the state. We don’t want keys to be handed over to others, at present keys are with us, and we have to safeguard our farmers”, he said.
Reacting to BJP’s criticism that the government failed to protect the interest of the state, he said, “I ask them what they did when they were in power, who are making several political comments now?”
Tamil Nadu urged the Supreme Court to direct Karnataka to ensure the stipulated release for the month of September 2023, which is 36.76 tmcft as per the Cauvery Tribunal award.
The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days — up to September 12. Karnataka had agreed to give 3,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu citing a deficit in rainfall this year. (ANI)
About the Author
