BENGALURU: Opposition Leader in the Assembly R Ashoka said the Karnataka government has failed to protect the state’s interests on the Cauvery water-sharing issue. Releasing water to Tamil Nadu when the state is in distress is impossible and the state government should immediately approach the Supreme Court to challenge the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) and the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) order to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu daily for 15 days, he told reporters in Bengaluru.
He said the government failed to effectively present before the authority the actual condition of reservoirs in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka, drinking water needs, farmers’ situation and water availability in the coming days, with scientific data. This is not merely an administrative lapse, it is serious neglect by the government in protecting Karnataka’s water rights, he said.
He said the chief minister and the water resources minister must take responsibility for this failure and answer to the people of the state. “The government must disclose: what points were placed before the authority on Karnataka’s behalf, was a report on the actual condition of the state’s reservoirs submitted, was the impact on Bengaluru’s drinking water and Karnataka’s farmers if water is released to Tamil Nadu adequately explained,” he said.