“Tamil Nadu only wants its share”: State BJP chief Annamalai on Cauvery water row
Sep 14, 2023
Dindigul (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 14 : Amid the ongoing Cauvery water dispute with Karnataka, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president K Annamalai on Wednesday said that the state doesn’t want any extra water but wants its share.
"Karnataka has to follow the law of the land. The law of the land is very clear. After 2018, the Cauvery Water Management Body was constituted and it has given its verdict,” Annamalai told ANI in Dindigul.
Further, he said, “If there is a problem, they have to go and appeal to the Supreme Court. I am sure the Supreme Court will look in detail into Tamil Nadu's argument. Tamil Nadu doesn't want extra water, it wants its share of water.”
The water management board on Tuesday directed the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu over 15 days starting Wednesday.
The direction came e water scarcity, leaving farmers a distressed lot.
However, the board directed the release of 5,000 cusecs of water from the Cauvery against the demand for 12,500 cusecs put forward by the DMK government in Tamil Nadu.
Former Karnataka chief minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy came down heavily on the Central Water Management Board terming its direction to the state government release 5,000 cusecs of water to the neighbouring state as an "unjustifiable decision".
While DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan on Wednesday said that the neighbouring state does not have any authority to deny water to Tamil Nadu.
He further said that the state is not asking for the entire water but only their share as per the agreement.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday after the all-party meeting said that the state is not in a position to release water to its adjacent state, Tamil Nadu as per the Supreme Court order.
"We have faced a severe deficit of rain in August compared to the previous 100 years. We don't have water, that's why we are not in a position to release water as per the SC order," Siddaramaiah said speaking to reporters after the all-party meeting on the Cauvery water dispute.
The meeting was convened to discuss the next course of action after the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee directed the state government to release 5,000 cusecs of water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu over the next 15 days.
The governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been locked a protracted tussle over the sharing of Cauvery waters. The river is seen as a major source of sustenance for the people in either state.
The Centre formed the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on June 2, 1990 to adjudicate on disputes between Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Puducherry with respect to their individual water-sharing capacities.
