Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday met senior counsel Fali Nariman to discuss further strategies regarding the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. Water Resources M B Patil and Rural and Panchayat Raj Minister H K Patil accompanied the CM.

The Supreme Court on Friday had recommended the State government to consider releasing water to Tamil Nadu even after Karnataka appealed that they are not in a position to do so.

The State has said in the recent days that the Cauvery basin has only 51 tmcft of water, out of which 40 tmcft is required to fulfill the drinking water needs of Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya and surrounding areas. Karnataka has refused to accept Tamil Nadu’s demand for release of 50 tmcft of water to save their standing crops.

Minister M B Patil said that Karnataka would apprise the Supreme Court of the prevailing situation again when the matter will come up for hearing on September 5. “We will give them complete details about water inflow, our requirements and all the factors that are present right now. A detailed presentation will be made by the legal team about the water flow from Kabini, Hemavathi, Harangi and KRS dams. We will also tell them about the deficit in the inflow. Our inability to release water will be explained very clearly,” he said.

Patil further said that if the court wants an independent team to assess the situation, then the State will welcome the decision as it was not possible to hide anything when it came to water storage.