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TN plea regarding Cauvery is not maintainable: Siddaramaiah
Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday convened an all-party meeting to discuss the inter-state river disputes like Cauvery and Mahadayi.
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said that the plea filed by Tamil Nadu in the Supreme Court seeking additional Cauvery water was not “maintainable”. Later in the day, the state government filed an affidavit in the top court, terming the DMK government’s application “wholly misconceived” that this water year is a normal water year.
“In normal years we have to release 177.25 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water, but in distress situations, yet it has not defined what ‘distress’ means?” the CM added.
The Supreme Court earlier this week had set up a separate bench to hear the Tamil Nadu government’s plea seeking directions to Karnataka to release water from Cauvery river and also to find a solution to dispute over water sharing with the neighbouring state.
Tamil Nadu sought direction to the Karnataka to immediately release 24,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) from its reservoirs and ensure the availability of the specified quantity of water at Biligundlu on the inter-state border for the remaining of the month for meeting the pressing demands of the standing crops.
It also urged the top court to direct Karnataka to ensure the release of 36.76 TMC stipulated for September 2023 as per the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT)’s final award of February 2007 that was modified by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Tamil Nadu government accused Karnataka of failing to fully implement the directions for the release of the stipulated quantum of 10,000 cusecs (0.864 TMC per day) as the final order passed by the Tribunal as modified by this Court, the application stated.
On the other hand, Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar assured that the interests of people of the state will be protected in the SC. He said the state government will place its argument before the court aimed at protecting the interests of the state and its farmers.
“We have had discussions regarding filing our (state) stand before the Supreme Court’s new bench. We have filed an appeal regarding the Cauvery water sharing issue aimed at protecting the interests of the state and its farmers,” Shivakumar, who is also in-charge of the water resources department, told reporters.
Responding to a question on taking an all party delegation to the Centre regarding Cauvery and other inter-state water issues like Mahadayi, he said a tentative date will be fixed first and the prime minister’s office and jal shakti minister’s office will be contacted, and on getting their appointment, the delegation will be taken.
Karnataka, which is under grip of a drought due to less than normal monsoon rainfall, has been maintaining that it will be able to release water to Tamil Nadu taking into account its needs like drinking water and standing crops in the Cauvery basin areas citing scarcity due to deficit monsoon rains.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday convened an all-party meeting to discuss the inter-state river disputes like Cauvery and Mahadayi. At the meeting, it was decided to effectively fight a legal battle in the Supreme Court regarding the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, and cooperation was sought from opposition parties about taking an all-party delegation to the Centre, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aimed at resolving inter-state water issues and taking up pending projects.
Noting that the Cauvery matter is once again coming up before the SC on August 25, Siddaramaiah had said the “state’s legal team has been asked to ensure that their (TN) petition is rejected and all that is possible should be done to protect the interests of the state.”
Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has been accusing the ruling DMK of failing to safeguard interests of the state due to alliance compulsions. Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai said that to keep the alliance with Congress intact, the DMK was letting go state interests. “DMK should serve ties with the Congress to safeguard interests of the state,” he said.
However, the DMK has reiterated that it would safeguard interests of the state with regard to sharing Cauvery water as decided by the Cauvery Water Tribunal.
