BENGALURU: The Karnataka Government on Saturday filed a review petition before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) expressing its inability to release water to Tamil Nadu and sought permission to implement the Mekedatu balancing reservoir project in the State.
The CWMA had upheld the Cauvery Water Regulation Commission’s direction to the State to release 3,000 cusecs of water daily till October 15.
Confirming that the State had filed the review petition, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters that the government would approach the Supreme Court after reviewing the situation. The government will take action as per the suggestions given by the former judges of the apex court and other legal experts. On Friday, Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar held a meeting with the former judges of the Supreme Court and legal experts on the dispute over the sharing of Cauvery water.
In a significant move, in the review petition, the government sought permission for the proposed Mekedatu project with a storage capacity of 67 tmcft. The government has been contending that this project will help Karnataka store water for drinking and power generation purposes. It will also help Tamil Nadu in times of distress.
Mekedatu is in Kanakapura taluk, around 100 km from Bengaluru. The proposed reservoir will be located around 50 km from the gauging station at Biligundlu in Tamil Nadu near the Karnataka border. TN believes that the reservoir, just across the border, is a hindrance to the free flow of surplus Cauvery water from Karnataka.