All-party delegation will meet PM, Union ministers to seek nod for state projects, says CM

BENGALURU: The state government has decided to take an all-party delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Union ministers and seek clearances for various water projects including the Mahadayi and Mekedatu projects. “A date will be fixed after fixing appointment with the central ministers”, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said today.

Briefing media persons after chairing an all-party meeting to discuss the Cauvery river water sharing issue, which was also attended by the state legal team, the CM said the state is facing a difficult situation due to the erratic monsoon.

“Whether is it water, language, border issues, the opinions of all are taken into consideration and there is no politics in this. The opposition has extended support to our government in ensuring justice to the people of the state and safeguarding the interests of the state”, Siddaramaiah said.

Further, he said Karnataka is required to release 86.38 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu by August-end as per a 2018 Supreme Court order, but so far, only 26.3 tmcft of water has been released. “The monsoon was deficient in June and August while there was excessive rainfall in July. There has not been much rain in the catchment areas too”, he noted.

The CM said the Supreme Court has mandated release of 177.25 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu at Biligundlu reservoir in normal years, but Karnataka is now facing deficient rainfall. “This happens every 5-6 years and is cyclical. We have informed the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) that we cannot release water. The government has the task of protecting standing crop as well as ensuring adequate drinking water”, he said.

“On August 11, the CWMB had directed us to release 15,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu, but we apprised them that it is not possible and then they reduced it to 10,000 cusecs daily. The Tamil Nadu representatives walked out of the meeting. In the meantime, that state also approached the Supreme Court again. Tamil Nadu needs 36 tmcft of water for the kuruvai crop, but they have used up 65 tmcft of water. This means that they have cultivated the kuruvai crop in more area than they are supposed to”, the CM noted.

Siddaramaiah pointed out that neither the CWMA nor the Supreme Court had drawn up a distress formula for the two states as regards water sharing. “Our two major demands are permission for the Mekedatu project and a distress formula. Our legal team has been directed to present our case before the Supreme Court”, he said.

On the Opposition argument that the all-party meeting should have been convened earlier, the CM said it was not necessary as there was heavy rain in July. “Tamil Nadu is going to the Supreme Court every time claiming that we are not releasing water, hence we had to release water”, he added.

The CM also wished Isro and the team of scientists for the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. He also received a memorandum from the Mahadayi protesters and assured them that the project will be started after the DPR is cleared by the Centre.

Deputy CM and Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar, ministers H K Patil, N Cheluvarayaswamy, Dr G Parameshwara, Krishna Byregowda, K J George, former MC B S Yediyurappa, H D Kumaraswamy, Basavaraj Bommai, D V Sadananda Gowda, M Veerappa Moily, Jagadish Shettar, MPs Sumalatha Ambareesh, P C Mohan, Tejasvi Surya, D K Suresh, Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma, senior IAS officer Rakesh Singh were among those who participated in the meeting.

Earlier, at a press conference, Deputy CM Shivakumar said Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are “neighbours” adding that he doesn’t want both states to fight with each other over the Cauvery issue.

After the Supreme Court ordered to constitute a bench to hear the Cauvery river water-sharing dispute, Shivakumar said that the top court ordered to release 24,000 cusecs of water daily. but the state is also facing water shortage.

“The Supreme Court has ordered to form a separate bench. Till August, they asked us to release 10,000 cusecs daily. Our demand is we need time, as we are facing shortage of water in our dams”, he said.