Bengaluru/New Delhi: The case on the Cauvery water issue will come up for hearing at the Supreme Court on Friday, September 30. People from both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are expected to be glued to their television sets to see the outcome.
The meeting on Thursday on the directive of the Supreme Court, failed to defuse the crisis over release of Cauvery water. The meeting was chaired by Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti and attended by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Tamil Nadu PWD Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy.
Having failed to implement the Supreme Court order to release 6,000 cusecs of water for three days starting September 28, Karnataka hopes of extricating itself from inviting the wrath of the court now rests with the stand the Union government will take before the court.
Siddaramaiah, speaking to reporters in New Delhi after the meeting said, “We expressed our readiness to abide by any decision that could be taken based on the expert committee report,” he said.
Siddaramaiah defended Karnataka’s stand not to release water. “Tamil Nadu is demanding water for its second crop despite having a storage of 43 tmcft in Mettur dam, while we are pleading for utilising 27.6 tmcft in our reservoirs to supply drinking water. Tamil Nadu has high prospects of getting copious rains from North-East monsoon starting October, while there is no such hope for Karnataka. I explained all these aspects at the meeting,” Siddaramaiah said.
Uma Bharti, who also spoke to reporters after the meeting, said, “There was a suggestion from Karnataka to send a team of experts from the Centre to both the states to study rainfall and water availability in the Cauvery basin. As Tamil Nadu had some reservations to the suggestion, no compromise could be reached on the issue.”
During the meeting, Tamil Nadu was of the view that Karnataka has treated the court order with contempt. “This deliberate defiance goes against the spirit of the Constitution and amounts to contempt of the apex court. Karnatka has not followed the orders of the Supreme Court and has, on the other hand, permitted unruly elements to create law and order issues,” Palaniswamy said during the meeting.
