BENGALURU: In a significant move, the state government on Saturday decided to file an appeal before the Supreme Court on Monday over release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The state cabinet decided to register its reply as an “appeal’ through Advocate General (AG) K Shashi Kiran Shetty.
“We invited the AG to the cabinet meeting and held discussions in detail. We instructed him to prepare a detailed report on the situation due to the weak monsoon and the availability of water in our reservoirs to register our appeal before the SC,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil told reporters. He, however, refused to divulge more details. The cabinet meeting was held in view of the Siddaramaiah government coming under intense fire from opposition BJP and JDS as well as farmers over release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
Top leaders of BJP and JDS accused the Congress government of releasing Cauvery water to TN to protect I.N.D.I.A, an alliance of 26 parties, including DMK which is in power in TN. On protests by farmers’ organisations in the Cauvery basin, especially in Mandya district, Patil said the government will soon call an all-party meeting to discuss the issue and the measures to be taken to protect the state’s interests.
Former CM HD Kumaraswamy and Union Minister of State for Agriculture Shobha Karandlaje had criticised the government for releasing water to TN ignoring the interests of Karnataka’s farmers.