Special session today set to back govt stand against water release

BENGALURU: The one-day special session of the state legislature to be held on Friday is showing all signs of going down as a historic one in the over-a-century-old Cauvery river water dispute.

The legislature is expected to unanimously pass a resolution expressing Karnataka’s inability to implement the Supreme Court order to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 7 days under the prevailing conditions.

The session has been convened to implement the suggestions of the all-party meeting in this regard.

The resolution is also likely to convey its opposition to constituting the Cauvery Water Management Board.

The apex court, in its September 20 order, had directed Karnataka to release the water from September 21 to 27 to save the Samba crop in Tamil Nadu. The State government has deferred release of water till Friday in accordance with the consensus that evolved at the all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday.

The move is set to pit the legislature against the judiciary on the water release issue. Siddaramaiah has taken the legislature route hoping that going against  the SC order would shield the government  against contempt of court charges.

According to sources, both the Houses of the state legislature are set to adopt the resolution unanimously and the same would be submitted to the Supreme Court and the Union government.

 The resolution is set to be adopted after an elaborate discussion to present the distress in the State’s Cauvery basin due to failure of monsoon, poor storage in reservoirs and drinking

water needs of Bengaluru and other towns in the Cauvery basin.

BJP drew strong criticism for staying away from the all-party meeting. But party State president B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday said the party legislators would support the cabinet decision to stop release of water.

“The cabinet decision on Tuesday is the same that was decided in the all-party meetings and suggested by the BJP. Hence, the BJP welcomes the cabinet decision deferring the release of water to Tamil Nadu. We had also repeatedly said that the legislature was the most appropriate forum to discuss such issues. The cabinet’s decision to convene an emergency session is also a welcome move,” Yeddyurappa said.

JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, who has been exhorting the Siddaramaiah government to take a tough stand against the SC order, appealed to BJP leaders on

Thursday to stand united with other political parties to protect the interests of Karnataka.  More: P5