Never said we will not give water to Tamil Nadu: Siddaramaiah

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has denied Karnataka having stated that it would not release water to Tamil Nadu.

MYSURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has denied Karnataka having stated that it would not release water to Tamil Nadu. “We have not said we will not give water to Tamil Nadu. We have tried to explain the ground reality in Cauvery basin,” Siddaramaiah said.

He said Karnataka has given water to Tamil Nadu as per the distress formula, but it has demanded its share of water for a normal year.

He said that Tamil Nadu is demanding water for irrigation but Karnataka is finding difficult to meet drinking water needs. Tamil Nadu that has 34 tmcft of water in Mettur reservoir while there is less than 50 tmcft in reservoirs in Cauvery basin in Karnataka of which 40 tmcft is required to meet drinking water needs in the region.

Siddaramaiah said Karnataka will apprise apex court of the situation in wake of the Tamil Nadu petition coming before it on September 2. Asked why they were discharging 11,000 cusecs water from KRS and Kabini when they need less than 6,000 cusecs for irrigation, he said they can’t completely stop discharge of water to Tamil Nadu.

State moves SC on Mahadayi row

Karnataka on Monday filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court against the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal’s interim award rejecting its plea for 7 tmcft of water. In the petition, the Karnataka government is said to have requested the Supreme Court for directing the tribunal to delete some of its observations.

The state government is worried that these observations may impact the final award of the inter-state water dispute.

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