Karnataka will release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu as directed by SC : Siddaramaiah

13 September, Bengaluru

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Tuesday said that the state would abide by the Supreme Court direction to release 12,000 cusecs of water daily from the river cauvery to Tamil Nadu until September 20.

Talking to newsmen after an emergency cabinet meeting in Begaluru, he said that he has full confidence in Judiciary.

Stating that even though the interim order of the Apex Court was most ”difficult and impractical” to implement in view of the current storage situation in the four Cauvery basin reservoirs, he said, the government would discharge its constitutional obligation.

He said that the state had to take this decision in the view of the State’s main petition coming up before the Supreme Court on October 28th challenging the final award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal declared in February 2007.

Mr Siddaramaiah said he had sought an appointment to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is likely to meet him tomorrow and seek his intervention to resolve the current impasse. Siddaramaiah will also request the Prime Minister to convene a meeting of Chief Ministers of the Cauvery basin states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry and find out an amicable solution.

He said the government, however, would ensure the drinking water requirement of Cauvery basin areas and also releasing water to farmers in Mandya and Mysuru for the standing crops.

Speaking to media, the Home Minister Dr. Parameshwara said that during the violence 78 vehicles were burn to ashes, of which 19 vehicle were burnt outside Bengaluru. So far 365 anti-social elements were arrested. Today there has been no major untoward incident, he said.