BENGALURU: An emergency meeting of the Water Resources Department has been called on Friday at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s residence after the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) recommended releasing 1 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu every day.
Deputy CM and Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar, senior officials of the department and others will participate in the meeting which will be held at the Chief Minister’s Home Office ‘Krishna’ at 3 pm.
Earlier, after facing a severe water shortage, the Karnataka government had said that it will not be in a position to release water to Tamil Nadu even if the Centre asked it to do so.
Denying allegations by the BJP that the Karnataka government is releasing water from the Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said, “That’s all lie what BJP is saying, we can release water only if we have water. That’s a lie. When we don’t have water to release, we don’t even give a single drop of water to Tamil Nadu or any others. Even Tamil Nadu didn’t ask for water”.
Siddaramaiah further said that his state will not be releasing water to Tamil Nadu even if the Center directs it to do so. “We don’t have water to release. There is no question of releasing water. Even if Tamil Nadu asks or the Centre tells us to release (water) we’ll not release. We will not give water to whoever it may be”, the Chief Minister said.
The governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been locked in a protracted tussle over the sharing of Cauvery waters. The river is seen as a major source of sustenance for the people in either state. The Centre formed the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on June 2, 1990, to adjudicate disputes between Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Puducherry with respect to their individual water-sharing capacities. (ANI)