Ask Karnataka to release water, Tamil Nadu team urges Jal Shakti minister

An all-party delegation of MPs from Tamil Nadu met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi on Tuesday and asked him to direct Karnataka to release Cauvery water due for the state. 

The delegation, consisting of members from DMK, AIADMK Congress and other parties and led by Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan, accused Karnataka of not following the pro-rata basis formula devised by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal during the deficit period. 

The meeting comes two days after Chief Minister M K Stalin said Karnataka should release water from River Cauvery as per the 2018 Supreme Court verdict, while rejecting allegations levelled by the neighbouring state that it had increased the ayacut area. 

“Karnataka dams have water, but the state is refusing to release it as per the directions of the Cauvery Water Management Authority. The total storage in Karnataka dams in 54 tmc ft of water. But they have constructed check dams to impound water in KRS dam,” the minister said. 

He accused Karnataka of releasing only 4,000 cusecs of water on Tuesday. “We are only asking for our share of water,” Murugan said. 

Tamil Nadu says it should have received 103.5 tmc ft of water from Karnataka till September 14, but the state received just 38.4 tmc ft of water, leading to a shortfall of 65.1 tmc ft.

The state government decided to open the sluices of the Stanley reservoir in Mettur on June 12 as scheduled, keeping in mind the storage (69.25 tmc ft), the normal monsoon forecast by the India Meteorological Department and the monthly water release schedule, Stalin had said on Saturday. 

While Tamil Nadu wants the monthly schedule to be adhered to without fail, Karnataka says it can release water only after catering to the needs of its people and farmers.