Cauvery row: Siddaramaiah-led delegation meets Jal Shakti Minister in New Delhi

A delegation of Karnataka ministers led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekawat

New Delhi: A delegation of Karnataka ministers led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekawat seeking to hold discussions on the Cauvery water issue.

During the meeting held in New Delhi on Thursday, the visiting delegation had detailed discussions with the Union minister over the Cauvery issue, they said.

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The meeting comes amid 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.

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

On Wednesday, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah chaired a meeting with Union Ministers and All-Party MPs from Karnataka to discuss the Cauvery water-sharing dispute in the national capital.

Following, the crucial meeting, CM Siddaramaiah said “We seek a stay on the CWMA order in the Supreme Court. We will appeal to the Supreme Court for an injunction against the CWMA order to release water to Tamil Nadu. We competently presented our actual situation before CWMA. There has been the lowest rainfall recorded in August in 123 years which causes increased distress in the state. We have no drinking water, no water for crop protection, no water for industry. So we are in a lot of trouble.” Siddaramaiah further said that the Prime Minister should intervene in the matter as he has the jurisdiction to summon the people of both states.

“PM has the jurisdiction to summon the people of both the states. So we have appealed to the Prime Minister for his intervention. We have already identified 195 talukas in the state as drought-prone. There has been the lowest rainfall recorded in August in 123 years which causes increased distress in the state,” Siddaramaiah said.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar claimed that after CWMA’s order, Karnataka is even facing scarcity of drinking water.

“We are facing a very distressed situation. We are only able to have one-third of the water. CWMA has ordered us to give 5000 cusecs of water for 15 days, we don’t even have water for drinking. We have discussed (this) with all of the Parliament members, who assured us that they are going to support our fight. We are pressing it before the Supreme Court to give us justice. I hope justice will be given to us,” DK Shivakumar said.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Monday said that the “quarrel” among Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will not be solved “legally” and that a solution will come out only after both sides sit together.