Jal Shakti Minister assured justice in Cauvery River dispute: DK Shivakumar

New Delhi [India], September 21 (ANI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the Union Jal Shakti Minister assured justice in Cauvery water dispute during the meeting held in the national capital on Thursday.

“The entire state of Karnataka stands united. We all have come together to see that we have to protect the interests of farmers. We have placed on record – what is the position of Karnataka during the distress here,” DK Shivakumar said at a joint press conference in New Delhi with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other ministers of the state after the meeting.

“We have almost lost our crops and we are finding it difficult to manage the drinking water also…We appealed to the Jal Shakti Minister, he assured us that justice will be done,” he added.

“We have informed the Union Minister about our plight. His response was positive. Our appeal will be heard in the Supreme Court. It is hoped that the Supreme Court will grant our plea and stay the Cauvery Water Management Committe order. So we are waiting for the Supreme Court order. We will decide on the next step,” the minister said at the joint press conference.

They also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the issue. “We request the Prime Minister to call the four states and intervene,” the ministers further said.

Agriculture Minister N Cheluvaraya Swamy, special representatives to the government of Karnataka in New Delhi T B Jayachandra and Prakash Hukkerian were also present.

This comes amid the Karnataka government seeking a stay on the Cauvery Water Management Authority order passed earlier seeking to release 5000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days till September 26.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has refused to interfere with the order of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) asking Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs of water for now to Tamil Nadu.

“Supreme Court has asked the authority to meet every 15 days,” they said.

The Cauvery Water Management Authority asked Karnataka to release 5000 cusecs of Cauvery Water till September 26. Karnataka has started the release of the water but continues to challenge the CWMA to reduce the required water, citing severe scarcity of water and drought in parts of the state.