Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the government was making all preparations to go ahead with the Mekedatu balancing reservoir.
Published Oct 05, 2023 | 3:53 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 05, 2023 | 3:53 PM
Cauvery river near Biligundlu. (Creative Commons)
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday said that Karnataka has filed a petition before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) seeking a review of its order on the release of water to Tamil Nadu.
He added that the government was making all preparations to go ahead with the Mekedatu balancing reservoir across the river.
Pointing out the scarcity of water in the reservoirs of the Cauvery basin despite rains in some areas in the past couple of days, Shivakumar, also the state’s water resources minister, said the government had managed to save the standing crops in the region and was hoping for more rains in the days to come for the situation to improve.
“We have already appealed (before the CWMA) expressing our inability to release even 3,000 cusecs; not sure when it will be taken up. We have also made a proposal regarding the Mekedatu issue. We are in full work, and we are making all the legal preparations required for it,” he told reporters.
Asked if the state would also go before the Supreme Court on the issue, he said, “…we will have to go stage by stage, or else it (our petition), will not be entertained in the courts.”
To a question on formulating a distress water-sharing formula to be followed in times of deficit rains, he said, “Let this year get over, we will see later…ask our MPs regarding it.”
The CWMA on 29 September asked Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu till 15 October, despite the upper riparian state stating that there was not enough storage in its reservoirs.
Noting that 106 tmc water was required, but there was only 56 tmc in the Cauvery basin reservoirs, Shivakumar said that inflow had increased during the last couple of days due to some rains, but it had currently come down.
“Inflow of 23,000 cusecs was there on 2 October. It was 13,000 cusecs on 1 October, 20,000 cusecs on 3 October, and 15,000 cusecs on 4 October. On 5 October, it came down to 10,000 cusecs,” he said.
The DCM claimed that the standing crops of the state’s farmers have been protected with this water, and called it a respite.
“Drought has been declared and we have requested the agriculture department to ensure that there is no more fresh cropping until there is an intimation about enough water. Another spell of rain is expected sometime next month. We will decide based on that,” Shivakumar added.
Farmers and pro-Kannada organisations have been protesting in various parts of the state against releasing water to Tamil Nadu and two bandhs were called in a week — in Bengaluru on 26 September, and statewide on 29 September — in this regard.
According to sources South First spoke to earlier, “The representatives of Karnataka requested the CWMA to consider the prevailing storages in four reservoirs of the Cauvery river basin in the state. The four dams have insufficient water to meet the requirement of irrigation and drinking water needs.”
They added: “It requested to reconsider the CWRC recommendations and give a break from releasing water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.”
On the other hand, Tamil Nadu’s representatives demanded that the CWMA order the release of 12,500 cusecs, including a backlog of 12.5 tmcft.
The Karnataka government has been maintaining that construction of the Mekedatu balancing reservoir across the river near Kanakapura in Ramanagara district is the only solution to resolve the inter-state water dispute during distress years.
Tamil Nadu is opposed to this project, claiming it would be detrimental to its interest and that of its farmers.
Considering the advice of the legal experts, the Siddaramaiah government also decided to fight for the Mekedatu balancing reservoir project before the Supreme Court and the CWMA.
Siddaramaiah told reporters earlier: “In the previous argument before the Supreme Court, when our advocates spoke about the Mekedatu project, the court said that it would list the matter after two weeks and hear arguments on it. The legal experts insisted on making the Mekedatu proposal. The Mekedatu reservoir has to be built. Hence, we should convince the highest court of the country.”
He continued: “The Mekedatu reservoir project will not cause any harm to Tamil Nadu. They are opposing this because of political reasons. Last year, 650 tmcft went to Tamil Nadu. If there is a balancing reservoir, we can store 67 tmcft. This is not being built for irrigation purposes but for drinking water and power generation purposes. This will help people of Bengaluru and Kolar for drinking water.”
Siddaramaiah also said: “We will release the remaining water to Tamil Nadu. In the distress period, we can release the stored water to the neighbouring state from the Mekedatu balancing reservoir. We cannot utilise this water. They also insisted that we argue effectively before the apex court on building the Mekedatu balancing project. So, we will soon decide about filing a petition on the matter.”
(With PTI inputs)
