The former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai led a delegation of BJP leaders to KRS reservoir near here to examine the “ground situation” and appealed to the State government to immediately stop releasing water to Tamil Nadu.
Speaking to reporters after inspecting the water level in KRS reservoir, Mr. Bommai accused the Congress government of making no effort protect the interests of the farmers of Cauvery basin by arguing its case properly before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).
Expressing concern over the depleted water level in the reservoir, Mr. Bommai warned the government that people of the State may face a shortage of drinking water in the coming days if water is continued to be released to Tamil Nadu. He alleged that the water released from Karnataka was to irrigate “illegally grown kuruvai crop in Tamil Nadu”.
Though the Cauvery Water Tribunal award had specified that only 1.8 lakh hectares of land in Tamil Nadu should be irrigated by Cauvery water, the lower riparian state had the waters to irrigated more than 4 lakh hectares, Mr. Bommai alleged.
The State government had failed to argue all these aspects and agreed to release water as directed by the CWMA, much to the disappointment of the farmers of Cauvery basin in Karnataka, he said. Had Karnataka refused to release water till the Supreme Court heard the case and delivered a direction, the State would have saved 15 to 20 tmcft of water, Mr. Bommai said.
Inadequate rains
He also said that the State government woke up to the crisis very late even though it was clear in early in May and June this year that rainfall had been inadequate. The State government should have taken all necessary steps to fill up water in the lakes by releasing water early so that the water requirement of the people was met.
The Irrigation Consultative Committee (ICC) meetings were also delayed and held only in August, he lamented, while claiming that the ICC meeting should have been held in June and a decision should be taken for releasing water to the lakes earlier.
Upset over media not being allowed
Mr. Bommai also took serious exception to the decision of the Water Resources Department officials and the police to disallow the media from accompanying the BJP delegation on the reservoir.
He said the ban on entry of media has made them suspicious about the government’s actions. “Are they releasing more water than they are claiming? Do they fear that their actions will be exposed if the media is allowed”, Mr. Bommai said.
The former Minister R. Ashoka, who was also present in the delegation, alleged that the State government was releasing water to Tamil Nadu “clandestinely” at night, thereby cheating the farmers of Cauvery basin. He said the it was the “hidden agenda” of Congress Government in Karnataka as their party and the DMK, which was the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, were part of the Opposition alliance INDIA.
Mandya MP Sumalatha, Mysuru MP Pratap Simha, former Ministers Govind Karjol, C.N. Ashwath Narayan and other BJP leaders were also present on the occasion.
