Karnataka to release only 8000 cusecs of water from Cauvery to Tamil Nadu
Jul 14, 2024
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 14 : Karnataka Government on Sunday decided to release only 8,000 cusecs of water from the Cauvery River to Tamil Nadu instead of one thousand million cubic meters of water.
This decision was taken after an 'all-party meeting' was held on Sunday to discuss issues related to the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's (CWRC) at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, BJP leader CT Ravi, and other prominent leaders of the state.
After an all-party meeting at Vidhana Soudha, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said "Today an all-party meeting took place in which Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, BJP leaders and Mysuru basin leaders were present. They opined that we should not release water and appeal before CWMA. Mohan Katarki, a member of the legal team suggested that considering the present situation, we can release 8,000 cusecs of water and if rain comes we will increase the number. This decision has been taken in the meeting"
Meanwhile, CM Siddaramaiah in a press conference said, "The collective opinion is that we can't leave 1 TMC water to Tamil Nadu every day. Second is that we have to appeal before the court as we can't leave 1 TMC water and we have decided to leave 8,000 cusecs every day to Tamil Nadu."
On the issue, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said, "At a very early stage, the regulatory authority had conducted a meeting. They have decided that one thousand million cubic (TMC) of water has to be given. We have decided to release 8,0000 cusecs. We have a 30% shortage of water. We will appeal before the monitoring committee. We have to respect the decision and protect the interests of our farmers also."
Earlier in March 2024, Bengaluru was gripped by a severe water crisis, as many as 7,082 villages across Karnataka and 1,193 wards, including in Bengaluru Urban district, were vulnerable to drinking water crisis in the coming months as per an assessment made by the government as of February 10.
A report by the revenue department has identified the majority of villages in Tumakuru district (746) and most wards in Uttara Kannada as staring at a grave water crisis in the days ahead.
In the Bengaluru Urban district, 174 villages and 120 wards have been shown to be vulnerable.
