Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah Rules Out Cauvery Water Release to Tamil Nadu

BENGALURU: Expressing his inability to abide by the direction of Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) which has asked Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for a fortnight, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said to have written a letter to Union Minister for Water Resources Gajendra Singh Shekawat explaining to him the prevailing situation in Karnataka owing to deficit rainfall this season.

The letter from Chief Minister wanted Union Minister to review the decision on the Cauvery Water Management Authority keeping in mind the water requirements of the State and brought to the notice of the Union Minister that Mettur reservoir in Tamil Nadu is having live storage of 24.233 tmc feet of water and the stored water in Mettur is enough to meet the water requirements of Tamil Nadu.

He also apprised the Union Minister that the chances of rainfall in Karnataka till September 24 is bleak owing to weak monsoon and Karnataka requires about 70 tmc feet of water to save its standing crops, 33 tmc for its drinking water needs and another 3 tmc feet of water for industrial purposes while the State itself has only 53 tmc feet of water in its reservoirs in Cauvery basin.

Siddaramaiah told reporters in Bengaluru that in the letter to the Union Minister ruled out water release to Tamil Nadu and any water release to Tamil Nadu at this juncture especially when the Cauvery basin districts of Karnataka are reeling under drought would push the State into dire strait of water shortage to both humans and livestock.

He said that Karnataka obeyed the directions of CWMA and released water to Tamil Nadu and the weak monsoon this season has resulted in drought situation in most taluks of Old Mysuru region coming under Cauvery basin.

The Chief Minister in his letter to the Union Minister brought to his notice that Tamil Nadu made use of 100 tmc feet of water for 92 days from June to September this year and the amount of water used by Tamil Nadu is more than the amount of water used by Tamil Nadu in drought hit years of 1987-88, 2002-03, 2012-13, 2016-17 and 2017-18.

“Despite Karnataka having less water storage in its reservoirs in Cauvery basin, Tamil Nadu has been growing paddy in vast areas,” pointed out Siddaramaiah in his letter.