Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who also holds the Water Resources portfolio, has said that cumulative inflows into the reservoirs in Karnataka’s Cauvery basin have increased to 15,000 cusecs a day bringing some sort of relief to the State.
Speaking to presspersons in Bengaluru on Sunday, Mr. Shivakumar said while the inflows had increased into the reservoirs, people had to pray for more rains in the State.
He said though the State was not releasing water to Tamil Nadu through the KRS, about 6,500 cusecs of water a day was reaching that State owing to rains in and around Bengaluru. This had showed that more rains would strengthen Karnataka’s position with respect to Cauvery water sharing, he said, and asserted that the State was ready for a legal fight with respect to the issue.
The State had filed an appeal before the Cauvery Water Management Authority seeking that it should reconsider its direction to Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu. He pointed out that such an appeal had been filed after consulting several retired judges and senior advocates.
SMK says Centre should evolve distress sharing formula in consultation with riparian States
Meanwhile, former Union Minister and veteran BJP leader S.M. Krishna observed that the Union government should put an end to the row over the sharing of Cauvery river water by evolving a distress formula in consultation with all the four riparian States.
Speaking to presspersons in Bengaluru, Mr. Krishna argued that such consultations with all the riparian States to evolve a distress formula was the only way to end the dispute.
He pointed out that the then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee had tried to hold such consultations with the riparian States when he was the Chief Minister of Karnataka. However, such efforts had not become successful, he said.
