Amid demands by leadersfrom Karnataka to review the Cauvery River Authority'sdecision of asking the state to release 9,000 cusecs of waterfor Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened ameeting of political leaders from the state Monday.
Leaders from Karnataka, including External AffairsMinister S M Krishna, Power Minister Veerappa Moily and BJPleader Ananth Kumar besides Water Resources Minister PawanKumar Bansal are likely to meet the Prime Minister in Delhifor consultations on the contentious water dispute betweenKarnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The consultations come ahead of the Cauvery monitoringcommittee meeting slated on October 11. The monitoring panelwill decide release of water from Karnataka after October 15.
The Cauvery River Authority had last month directedKarnataka to release 9,000 cusecs of water to its neighbouringstate on a daily basis between September 20 and October 15.
Amid a raging water-sharing dispute between the twosouthern states, a central team is already visiting the twostates to see water level in reservoirs, the condition ofstanding crops and water flow. This visit will help theCauvery Monitoring Committee to take a call on the issue.
Tamil Nadu had demanded release of 24,000 cusecs of water,while the Supreme Court had asked Karnataka to release 10,000cusecs. The CRA, after hearing the views of both the states,awarded release of 9,000 cusecs.
CMC comprises officials of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Keralaand Pudducherry, besides central representatives.
Meanwhile, intense protests over release of water to TamilNadu continued to sweep Cauvery river basin areas for theeighth day as Karnataka hoped for a "positive response" fromthe Supreme Court tomorrow on its plea for reconsideration ofthe September 28 order.
"I am optimistic of a good (favourable) verdict (forKarnataka)", Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar told reportersduring his visits to Hubli-Dharwad and Belgaum in northKarnataka today.