Karnataka decides to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu

The Karnataka legislature on Monday adopted a resolution to empower the government to release water to Tamil Nadu for agriculture after safeguarding the drinking water needs of its own people. The move comes on the heals of the Supreme Court on Monday seeking a detailed report from Karnataka — by 2 pm on Tuesday — on the compliance of its September 30 order.

The apex court had directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water daily from October 1-6, and warned the State that no one would know when the ‘wrath of the law’ would fall on it.

Karnataka had adopted a resolution at the special le gislative session held on September 23 and expressed concern that only 27.6 tmc of water was left in its four reservoirs.

Today, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, defending the latest resolution, said: “As on Monday the total storage in all the four reservoirs stood at 34.13 tmc.”

Earlier in the day, he told the Assembly that the State had filed a review petition in the Supreme Court drawing its attention to procedural issues.

Meanwhile, taking a call on the row for the first time, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday it cannot be directed to set up the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB), but is setting up a technical panel to assess the ground realities.

It urged the court to review or recall the order asking it to set up the CWMB on the grounds that the issue falls under the domain of the legislature.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who mentioned the Centre’s application before a Bench, brought to the notice of the Bench that it should not have asked it to set up the CWMB as the main civil appeal on the issue is still pending and it is not a party before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, which had sought the CWMB.

“Since the Central government was not a party to the proceedings before the Tribunal, it did not have opportunity to submit to the Tribunal that the Tribunal will not have any power of recommending to create a Board as suggested. Setting up of a Board is part of legislative exercise,” the government said in its plea.

Political parties in Tamil Nadu were on Monday up against the Centre for its ‘U turn’.

DMK president M Karunanidhi said the Centre has taken this stand with an eye on the ensuing Assembly elections in Karnataka.

PMK founder S Ramadoss termed it a big bane of the Indian political system that Tamil Nadu had to fight for more than a decade for the setting up of the CWMB.