Release of Cauvery water to TN

Offers to arrange chopper for taking TN CM Vijay on aerial tour of Cauvery basin

Bengaluru: As the Cauvery river water sharing dispute heated up, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who was in New Delhi yesterday, stated that the State Government will file an appeal against the order of Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), which has ordered for the release of 3,500 cusecs of Cauvery water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.

Shivakumar, who was busy holding a meeting over the dispute with Advocate General, legal experts and officers at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, spoke to media persons, alongside Special Representative of Karnataka in New Delhi T.B. Jayachandra and Karwar MLA Satish Sail.

“The rainfall this year is inadequate. Earlier, when there was a similar situation, CWRC had twice rejected the request of Tamil Nadu Government to direct Karnataka to release Cauvery river water. However, now the CWRC has ordered for the release of water,” said Shivakumar.

 Water Resources Minister R. Ramalinga Reddy has already  held a meeting with officers. The issue will also be discussed with Opposition party leaders after returning to Bengaluru from Delhi, he added.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu CM Joseph Vijay is arriving here on Aug. 3 for bilateral talks. To make him aware of the present scenario, a helicopter will be arranged to take the visiting CM on a aerial tour of Cauvery basin. The Tamil Nadu CM can take a decision after assessing the ground reality, said Shivakumar.

CWRC meeting today: Amid the huge uproar against its order to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, CWRC has convened an emergency meeting at its office in New Delhi this afternoon. A meeting of CWRC is scheduled at 2.30 pm at Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) in New Delhi, which will be attended by the representatives of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Karnataka has strongly advocated against following the CWRC order, going by the inadequate storage of water, with the failure of monsoon this year.

‘Draft to file appeal ready’

Water Resources Minister R. Ramalinga Reddy said, a draft to file against the CWRC order to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu is ready.

Denying that Cauvery water is being released to TN, Reddy dismissed those news being circulated on social media as utter lies.

In the current rainy season, 36 TMC of water has been received at the dams in Cauvery basin and total 44 TMC of water is available at four dams in Cauvery basin. While TN has 41 TMC water comprising 36 TMC at its Mettur dam and 5 TMC at Bhavani Sagar dam. It is sufficient to meet the requirement for drinking water of TN for 40 days, he said.