BENGALURU: “The state government can release 8,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu every day till the month-end, and not 1 tmcft (11,000 cusecs) as ordered by the the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC). We are bound to release the full quantum of 1 tmcft only if there is excess rainfall. This was suggested by our team of lawyers. They advised us that otherwise, the committee would feel we are stubborn,” said Chief Minister Sidaramaiah here on Sunday after holding an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.
“We held a meeting on July 12 and decided not to release water. We also took a decision then to convene an all-party meeting to file an appeal before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA). We cannot release 1 tmcft as only 63% of our reservoirs in the Cauvery basin are full,” he said.
“In the last two days, 20,000 and 19,000 cusecs of water was released respectively. On Sunday, 13,000 cusecs was let out. Only the water that cannot be stored for the safety of reservoirs has been drained,” he said.
On Thursday (July 11), the CWRC had ordered Karnataka to release 20 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu, at the rate of 1 tmcft per day till the month-end.
In a normal year, Karnataka has to release 9.4 tmcft of water in June and 31.24 tmcft in July, which totals to 40.43 tmcft. So far, over 5 tmcft has been released.
Experts have cautioned the state government that it could invite the wrath and contempt of the two apex bodies of Cauvery river if water is not released.
Sunday’s all-party meeting was attended by leaders from the ruling Congress, opposition alliance of BJP and JDS, farmer unions, legal experts and others.