“Petition filed by Tamil Nadu is not maintainable, we will argue”: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Cauvery dispute

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 24 (ANI): Amid the Cauvery dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that Karnataka will argue the matter in the Supreme court because the petition filed by Tamil Nadu is not maintainable.

Karnataka CM told ANI “Karnataka will argue the matter because Tamil Nadu filed a petition asking the release of water but the petition by Tamil Nadu is not maintainable as the Supreme Court has already given a verdict on the Cauvery dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on 5th February 2018.”

The matter has been a controversial issue between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for decades and they have been locked in a battle over the sharing of water from the Cauvery River, which is a major source of irrigation and drinking water for millions of people in the region.

“In normal years we have to release 177.25 TMC of water, but in distress situations, it is not defined yet what ‘distress’ means?” Karnataka CM added.

Earlier, an all-party meeting chaired by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to discuss the Cauvery River water dispute was held at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, former Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yediyurappa, Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, Lok Sabha MP Sumalatha Ambareesh and several other leaders were present in the meeting.

Tamil Nadu in its fresh application sought direction to the State of Karnataka to immediately release 24,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) from its reservoirs and ensure the availability of the specified quantity of water at Biligundlu on the inter-state border for the remainder of the month for meeting the pressing demands of the standing crops.

It also urged the top court to direct Karnataka to ensure the release of 36.76 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) stipulated for September 2023 as per the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT)’s final award of February 2007 that was modified by the Supreme Court in 2018. The application said that a direction was given to Karnataka on August 10 to release from its reservoirs 15,000 cusecs at Billigundulu on August 11 for 15 days.

Karnataka failed to fully implement the directions for the release of the stipulated quantum of 10,000 cusecs (0.864 TMC per day) as directed by CWRC, it said.

Karnataka is duty-bound to release the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu as per the final order passed by the Tribunal as modified by this Court, the application stated.