Bangalore / New Delhi: Last August, the Tamil Nadu government filed an emergency case in the Supreme Court regarding the distribution of Cauvery river water. A separate bench consisting of 3 judges headed by Justice PR Kawai was constituted to hear the case.
In the petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government, it has requested that Karnataka should be ordered to open water due to Tamil Nadu as per the final order issued by the Supreme Court. The Karnataka government filed a reply saying, “Due to limited water in the dams, it is not possible to open the water.”
Meanwhile, in the Cauvery Management Commission meeting held on the 29th of last month, Karnataka was ordered to release 5,000 cubic feet of water per second to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days.
Following this, on the 13th, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urgently convened an all-party meeting. It was unanimously resolved that water cannot be opened to Tamil Nadu. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Sivakumar personally met the Union Hydropower Minister Gajendra Singh in this regard.
Then DK Sivakumar said, “The Cauvery Management Authority and the Regulatory Committee should visit the dams to know the true situation of Karnataka in this matter.”
The Tamil Nadu government’s urgent petition is coming up for hearing in the Supreme Court on the 21st. Prior to that, the Karnataka government is said to be planning to resolve the water sharing issue through the Cauvery Management Authority.
Following the order of Union Minister Gajendra Singh, its chairman SK Haldar announced that an emergency meeting of the Cauvery Management Commission will be held on September 18. In this case, Karnataka Government’s Water Resources Secretary Rakesh Singh has written a letter to the Chairman of the Cauvery Management Authority, SK Haldar, regarding the water availability in Karnataka dams and the inability to release water.
