Farmers in Mandya, Mysuru, and residents of Bengaluru will face water shortage if the State government releases Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu for political reasons, said Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Shobha Karandlaje.
Speaking to presspersons in Chikkamagaluru on Saturday, Ms. Karandlaje said: “If the State government releases Cauvery water just because they (DMK in Tamil Nadu) are part of I.N.D.I.A, farmers of Mandya and Mysuru and residents of Bengaluru will face shortage of drinking water in the coming days.”
She opined that the State government had not come out strongly on the issue. “The government should have made it clear that there is a drought situation in many places in the State and dams had not received adequate inflow due to dip in rainfall. The government should try to convince the neighbouring State about the facts and also ask Tamil Nadu to send a team to review the situation. However, there have been no such attempts so far,” she said.
Further, she accused the State government of sacrificing people’s interests for political reasons. “The government is bothered only about politics,” she alleged.
“We are already facing shortage of power. If this is the situation now, how will the State manage power requirement during summer? I urge the government to release a White Paper on the status of power generation and the Energy Department’s plan to manage power requirements until May 2024,” Ms. Karandlaje said.
