Mandya: Karnataka’s appeal challenging the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu is likely to come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on Monday, water resources minister N Chaluvarayaswamy said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters, Chaluvarayaswamy said the state had to continue releasing water to Tamil Nadu until Monday on the advice of its legal team, as approaching the Supreme Court without first complying with directions issued by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) or its committee could risk dismissal of the petition.
Chaluvarayaswamy said Karnataka was facing a severe water shortage but was bound by the federal structure and court orders.
He claimed that the quantity of water being released to Tamil Nadu this time was the lowest in the past 20 years, recalling that around 35 TMC had been released during similar distress situations in earlier years.
The minister said the government remained committed to protecting farmers’ interests and that officials and the state’s legal team were putting forward a strong case before the Supreme Court.
He said irrigation was currently being managed through the rotational ‘kattu-neeru’ system, while efforts were also underway to fill lakes. Adequate water would be reserved in the four major Cauvery basin reservoirs to ensure drinking water availability from December through next June, he added.
Chaluvarayaswamy said the government did not want to turn the Cauvery dispute into a political blame game. He urged BJP MPs and Union ministers from Karnataka to help secure the Centre’s approval for the Mekedatu and Mahadayi projects, which he said could provide a long-term solution.
He added that discussions on Mekedatu had already been held with the Union Jal Shakti minister and expressed confidence that approval would come soon.
On cloud seeding, the minister said the first phase had not produced the expected results but hoped weather conditions would improve after the Gauri-Ganesha festival.
Reacting to Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate raids, Chaluvarayaswamy alleged that such actions were targeting Congress-ruled states ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He expressed confidence that minister Satish Jarkiholi would clear the allegations through legal proceedings.
He also described the government’s 100-day celebrations as successful and said more pro-people programmes would be rolled out during the remaining one-and-a-half years of its term.
