Bangalore: Defending the decision to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna on January 14 said the state had come out of the "clutches of the Supreme Court" by it and appealed to people to see reason, assuring that their interests would be protected.

"We have come out of the clutches of Supreme Court. There is no Cauvery River Authority (CRA) order now. But we have the legal obligation to follow the Tribunal's interim order. And in this backdrop, I have consented to release water," Krishna told a hurriedly called news conference.

Seeking to convince farmers of the compulsive situation in which he agreed to release 1,200 cusecs to Tamil Nadu on January 13 at an informal meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee after the CRA meeting was called off due to lack of quorum, he said while South West monsoon failed in Karnataka, North East failed in Tamil Nadu.

He said like Karnataka's farmers who have standing crops in 80,000 acres, their counterparts in Tamil Nadu have sown in about 10 lakh acres.

Krishna reminded farmers of the state that government had honoured its promise of protecting standing crops in 5.90 lakh acres three months ago when the Cauvery water- sharing dispute snowballed into a major crisis between the two states, though some had expressed scepticism about it.

He said in the coming three months, "the government's responsibility is to save crops in 80,000 acres and ensure drinking water till June".

Apparently to allay apprehensions of farmers in the Cauvery basin districts, Krishna said the state was to ensure release of an additional 300 cusecs of water to existing flows.

He said about 900 cusecs of water was being released daily to Shivanasamudram Hydro- electric power station for generating energy and this water cannot be stopped from flowing into Tamil Nadu.

"In this background, Karnataka is only releasing 300 cusecs additionally," he asserted.

Offering details of the negotiations he had with Vajpayee, Krishna said the Prime Minister asked him to consider water release in the interest of maintaining cordial relations with Tamil Nadu.

"Very often I have been telling the Prime Minister that the outstanding issues like Cauvery should be bilaterally settled or with the Central intervention to find a permanent solution and Karnataka has an open mind in this issue," he said.

He said the decision of January 13 is "a good step" in the direction of establishing a desirable condition for settling the dispute amicably.

Krishna said, "This gesture of ours should reassure the Tamil Nadu end that Karnataka, despite facing grave distress, helped it."

When queried what warranted the state to take a "soft stand" towards Tamil Nadu, Krishna shot back saying, "We are in a federal structure. Tamil Nadu's cause as a riparian state cannot be wished away as that of the Karnataka in Krishna river water sharing."

PTI