'Can't release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu': Karnataka to move CWMA

Bengaluru: Karnataka said on Friday that it cannot release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu even as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah convened an all-party meeting on Sunday to decide the next steps. The state government expressed its inability to comply with the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee’s (CWRC) directive to release one tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu daily until July 31.

Addressing a news conference after chairing an emergency meeting, Siddaramaiah said his government will approach the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) with a petition against the CWRC directive. 

Siddaramaiah underlined that the state had not received the expected rainfall as predicted by the India Meteorological Department. “Although the forecast indicated normal rainfall, there has been a 28 per cent deficit in the inflows to all four dams in the Cauvery river basin till now,” he said.

Maintaining that the state officials had submitted to the CWRC that it should refrain from directing Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu, Siddaramaiah said the state’s submission was overlooked.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who is the water resources minister, said the 28 per cent deficit is equivalent to 19 tmcft in absolute terms. If Karnataka has to release one tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu daily until July 31, it will be around 20 tmcft.

According to Shivakumar, the water storage levels at the Harangi dam stood at 73 per cent, Hemavathi 55 per cent, Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) 54 per cent, and Kabini at 96 per cent. 

Shivakumar said that he has had discussions with the legal team, including attorneys Shyam Dewan and Mohan Katarki. They have provided suggestions on the way forward, which will be shared during the all-party meeting. 

Siddaramaiah also said that around 5,000 cusecs of water (inflow) from Kabini is already being released to Tamil Nadu due to safety considerations as the dam is nearing its full capacity.

“There is just 60 tmcft of water available across all four reservoirs. So, keeping in mind the rain shortfall, we had requested to wait till July end,” Siddaramaiah said.