Mysuru: Chief Minister Siddharamaiah has said that his government was opposed to the formation of the Cauvery Management Board and that the lawyers representing the State had been asked to put forward this position very strongly in the Supreme Court.

He was speaking to reporters after Dasara inauguration atop Chamundi Hill yesterday. “The judges in the Supreme Court, who are hearing the case, had made a passing remark yesterday about the formation of the Cauvery Management Board. It was not an order, it was only a passing remark,” he said.

“I am speaking to our lawyers. From the beginning, we have been opposing the formation of Cauvery Management Board. I have asked them to very strongly put forth our position and ensure that there is no order that affects our farmers’ interests. We will make all efforts to protect our farmers’ interests.

There is no need for our farmers in the Cauvery basin region to worry.”

Though water storage in reservoirs has improved compared to previous year, Karnataka could not meet Tamil Nadu’s demand for water, he said. “We are filling up tanks to address drinking water needs in our State,” he added.

Siddharamaiah said sowing has been done in 60 lakh hectares as against 73 lakh hectares and there is 12 tmcft water in Hemavathi, 8 tmcft in Harangi, 19 tmcft in Kabini and less than 103 ft as against 124.8 ft in KRS while many reservoirs in North Karnataka are to full to the brim.

The Supreme Court is currently hearing the appeals filed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala against the 2007 award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal on water-sharing.

The Tamil Nadu Government, on Tuesday, had insisted that the Court appoint an authority and frame a scheme for sharing and managing the water of the Cauvery among the riparian States, instead of leaving the responsibility to the Centre.

Cauvery Management Board will have control over Banasura Sagar (Kerala), Hemavathy, Harangi, Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagar (Karnataka) and Bhavanisagar, Amaravathy and Mettur (Tamil Nadu) reservoirs, once it is formed.