Bangalore: Holding on to its position, Karnataka on October 16 maintained that it
still faced deficit in water levels in its reservoirs, indicating it is not in a
position to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, but said that the state would
review the storage position on October 20 or 21.
Briefing reporters after a Cabinet meeting, which took stock of the water storage
position, Information Minister Kagodu Thimappa said that the state totally required
65 TMC ft, 52 for standing crops and 13 for drinking water, but it still faced a
deficit of 30 TMC ft.
The situation would, however, be reviewed by the state Cabinet on October 20 or 21,
just days before the Supreme Court takes up the Cauvery-related case on October 24.
He said that 19.5 TMC ft had flown into Biligundlu where the gauging station is
located and 15.4 TMC ft into Mettur reservoir in Tamil Nadu from September 4 till
date but hastened to add that it was rain water and not the water released from
either the Kabini or KRS dams in the state.
The Kabini reservoir crest gates would have to be opened if it received three TMC ft
more of water in the interest of the safety of the dam but nothing could be said
with certainty, Thimappa said.
Thimappa said that according to reports available, 80 taluks had received excess
rains between October 1 and 16, 20 taluks normal rains and the remaining 54 taluks
deficit rainfall.
Karnataka has suspended release of water to Tamil Nadu after a farmer ended his life
by jumping into the Kabini reservoir and has been maintaining that it has no
sufficient water to spare to the neighbouring state.
The Supreme Court had directed the state to release 1.25 TMC ft, which was
subsequently scaled down to 0.8 TMC ft by the Cauvery River Authority (CRA). The
state had been releasing water until the Cauvery agitation took an ugly turn with
the farmer's suicide.
Following a petition by Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court had again directed Karnataka
to honour the CRA decision but the state has expressed its inability to do so. The
apex court has issued two notices to Krishna and others on a contempt petition filed
by Tamil Nadu which has accused them of "wilfully disobeying" the court directive.
PTI
