New Delhi: Amid the ongoing water sharing dispute with neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday said the state has decided to present the ground realities before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) before moving the Supreme Court, news agency PTI reported. The Congress leader said the government will urge the two water regulation bodies to take stock of the ground realities in both states and also press for the construction of the Mekedatu reservoir, projecting it as being the only solution to the dispute.
“Our latest request is — CWMA has asked us to release 5,000 cusecs. We have to honour it and we are honouring it, but the situation is very grim, so we are going before them highlighting our difficulty, and we are requesting them to come and see the exact ground situation in both the states,” PTI quoted Shivakumar as saying.
Elaborating the gravity of the situation, Shivakumar, who holds the Water Resources portfolio in the Karnataka government, said, “There are no rains. We expected some rains. It had only rained in Bengaluru yesterday, but no rains in Cauvery basin. I hope they will visit, look at the situation and make a decision.”
Speaking on the Opposition parties’ demand to stop releasing water to Tamil Nadu, Shivakumar, as quoted by PTI, said, “I have consulted the legal experts and the Advocate General and they have advised us to submit the ground situation before the authorities before going to the Supreme Court.”
“We will present the ground situation with data of water level at Krishna Raja Sagara, Kabini and Hemavati (reservoirs) before both the committee and the authority, after that we will look at the option of moving the Supreme Court,” he added.
He further said that Karnataka will file an application before the authority concerned highlighting that Mekedatu balancing reservoir project is the “only solution” to the issue.
“We will make them understand that with the Mekedatu project, water could have been stored and such a situation could have been averted. Looking at the ground realities they will be able to understand,” Shivakumar said, as quoted by PTI.