Bangalore: Karnataka today (June 7, 2004) decided to wait for the outcome of the June 10 talks it will have with a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led delegation headed by Union Minister for Surface Transport T R Baalu on the Cauvery river water sharing tangle, to formulate its stand.

A top level meeting convened by Karnataka Chief Minister N Dharam Singh and attended by Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah deferred a decision on the stand to be adopted by the state in the wake of demand by Tamil Nadu for convening the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) meet to resolve the water sharing row.

Emerging from the meeting, Singh told that the state would decide on its future course of action after hearing the DMK delegation that would call on him here on June 10.

Singh said the Government would protect the interest of the state's farmers in the Cauvery basin.

At the meeting attended by minister P G R Sindhia and top officials of the irrigation department, the existing storage position in the four reservoirs of the Cauvery delta was discussed.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa last week shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding early convening of the CRA meeting and the DMK favored a meeting with Karnataka to find a solution.