As Centre fails to break Cauvery deadlock, all eyes on Supreme Court

TN opposes Karnataka’s proposal for expert panel to study water availability, Jaya alleges contempt of court

All eyes will be on the Supreme Court on Friday as the Centre failed to broker peace between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the Cauvery river water sharing dispute.

Pro Kannada activists in Bengaluru on Thursday burn posters of Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa and Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah in protest against the Supreme Court verdict on Cauvery water. (PTI)

The court had asked the Union water resources ministry on Tuesday to facilitate a meeting between representatives of the two states after Karnataka refused to release 6,000 cusecs of water to TN following the apex court’s direction.

However, after chairing a three-hour meeting on Thursday, water resources minister Uma Bharti said she was “disappointed” as a “solution outside court could not be achieved”. “Tamil Nadu did not agree to Karnataka’s proposal that a central team of experts visits the Cauvery river basin to assess ground realities, including the quantum of water stored in reservoirs, drinking water available and crop situation, before a decision is taken to release water,” Bharti said.

The minister, referring to the tense situation in the two states, urged people to exercise restraint.

Bharti added that she was ready to go on an indefinite hunger strike along the border between the two states if the problem persisted.

Read | Karnataka’s defiance in Cauvery issue ‘contempt of court’: TN CM Jayalalithaa

Earlier, TN CM Jayalalithaa in a message said, “In utter disregard and in complete contempt of the orders of the Honourable Supreme Court, Karnataka failed to release the stipulated quantity of water to Tamil Nadu and in addition, failed to make good the shortfall.”