State unable to release water to Tamil Nadu: Karnataka Chief Secretary
He made this statement in response to a letter from his TN counterpart
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee has said the state is not in a position to release water to Tamil Nadu because of poor storage of water in dams in the Cauvery basin owing to failure of rains.
He made this statement in response to a letter from his TN counterpart after TN Chief Minister Jayalalithaa wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week seeking a direction to Karnataka to honour the final award given by the Cauvery Water Tribunal. "I have already stated that there is no water in our dams..so the question of releasing water to TN is ruled out", he added.
Meanwhile, Karnataka water resources minister M.B. Patil left for New Delhi to explain the present situation in Karnataka dams due to the failure of the monsoon. He is expected to explain to the authorities concerned the state's inability to release water as more than 135 taluks are facing drought and there is a severe scarcity of water across the state.
Already, the state government had explained to the TN government that Karnataka is facing a severe drought in the last forty years and there is a dip of 30 per cent in the rainfall. The rain is unsatisfactory even in the Cauvery Basin area resulting in poor storage of water in dams. The state may release water in accordance with the distress formula but not as specified in the final award of the tribunal.