MYSURU/BENGALURU: With major reservoirs in the Cauvery basin hitting rock bottom and monsoon delayed for a few weeks, the Cauvery water-sharing dispute may come to the centre stage again.
The Cauvery basin that received copious rains over the last five years has slipped into a grim situation with the combined storage of Kabini, Harangi, Hemavathi and KRS reservoirs at just 30.5 tmcft as against the capacity of 114 tmcft.
The situation may become alarming and add to the worries of the new government if the Cauvery Basin does not receive normal rain in the next couple of weeks. It could also hit drinking water supplies to Bengaluru, Mysuru, and other towns. Kodagu, which falls in the Cauvery catchment area, has received less than 50% rain as compared to last year and a 75% deficit as compared to 2021 which does not bode well for both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said in New Delhi on Friday that Karnataka is not in a position to release water to Tamil Nadu as there is not enough water in the dams in the Cauvery basin. On Saturday, he told reporters in Bengaluru, “We don’t want to fight with Tamil Nadu as they are our brothers.”
He said he has invited officials from the Centre, other states, especially Tamil Nadu, and the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) for a meeting on the safety of dams on July 9 at the Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) reservoir to have first-hand information about the situation.
“Last year, around 700 tmcft of water may have reached the sea. This year, even if Tamil Nadu insists on us to release water, there is not enough water. There is a scarcity of drinking water for us, with Bengaluru also facing a grim situation,” he said.
DKS: Will try to resolve dispute through talks
The Supreme Court’s direction to constitute a tribunal might have come due to a lack of understanding of the situation on the ground, Shivakumar said and added that they have to sit and talk to resolve the disputes. Tamil Nadu has raised objections to Bengaluru’s treated sewage water of 500 tmcft being used to fill tanks in drought-hit Kolar and Chikkaballapur. They have approached the court demanding the constitution of a tribunal by July 5.
DKS in New Delhi called on Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and presented a memorandum, appealing him not to constitute the tribunal without exploring the possibility of resolving issues through negotiations. The lower riparian Tamil Nadu has raised a dispute against Karnataka regarding the South Pennar basin. The ministry had made a statement before SC, which eventually gave directions to constitute the tribunal.
Drinking water crisis looms
Reservoirs in Karnataka are only 17 per cent full and the grim situation could lead to a drinking water crisis across the state. The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre stated that the present storage is 148.22 tmcft as on July 1. The gross storage capacity is 865.20 tmcft. P5