Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday met Union Minister for Water Resources Uma Bharti and explained about the difficulties in implementing the Supreme Court order to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
Speaking with media persons after meeting Union Minister Uma Bharti, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that he had explained about the drought condition in the state due to the failure of monsoon. “I have explained about the prevailing drought condition at many areas in the state. I also told Uma Bharati about the storage of water in four reservoirs in Karnataka. I also told her that total storage of water is 26 TMC in four reservoirs while the water storage at Mettur reservoir is 52 TMC. I have explained how it would be difficult to supply drinking water to Bengaluru, Mandya, Mysuru and other villages if Karnataka releases Cauvery water as per the Supreme Court’s direction”, Siddaramaiah said.
The Chief Minister said that he had appealed to the Central Government to direct Solicitor General to file an appeal in the Supreme Court against its direction to the Centre to constitute Cauvery Water Management Board within four months. “It is uncalled for since neither Karnataka nor Tamil Nadu had prayed for it”, the Chief Minister said.
Later, the Karnataka Chief Minister met Congress leader Digvijay Singh and state’s counsel Fali Sam Nariman and discussed with them about the situation in the state in the wake of the Supreme Court’s direction for Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day from September 21 to 27.
Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah met former Chief Minister S M Krishna and explained about the prevailing situation in the state after Supreme Court’s recent interim order on Cauvery water dispute.
Soon after, Siddaramaiah was accompanied by PWD Minister H C Mahadevappa and Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs T B Jayanchandra to meet Governor Vajubhai Vala and requested him to convene the special session of the both Houses of legislature on Friday to discuss the Supreme Court’s latest order on releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
It may be recalled that after a late night Cabinet meeting, the State Government has decided to call on both the Houses for a debate on what the next course of action should be for the government. Till the session, Karnataka Government has decided to temporarily suspend the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
Siddaramaiah is expected to meet senior Congress leaders in Delhi and apprise them of the developments in the state.
