Cauvery water row: Karnataka govt calls for all-party meeting on Aug 23 to resolve dispute

Shivakumar said that they have also called some senior Parliament members to be part of the meeting to reach a solution to this long pending issue involving Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday said that the state government has called for an all-party meeting on water disputes related to Cauvery (Kaveri) on August 23.

Shivakumar said that they have also called some senior Parliament members to be part of the meeting to reach a solution to this long pending issue involving Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

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“Karnataka government is calling an all-party meeting on water disputes related to Cauvery…it is on Wednesday (23rd August). I have called some senior Parliament members to be part of the meeting…to seek the solution we have called this meeting,” said Karnataka Dy CM DK Shivakumar.

Shivakumar had on Thursday said that they will request the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to reconsider its decision on sharing water with Tamil Nadu. CWMA has instructed the Karnataka government to release 10,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu over the next 15 days at a time when the state was grappling with water shortage.

Speaking to ANI, Deputy CM Shivakumar said, “We received an instruction that we have to release 10,000 cusecs of water (from Cauvery) for 15 days. We are aware that the state is currently grappling with a water crisis. We are facing severe drought in some areas.”

“Still, in compliance with the Supreme Court directive, we have released the water (from the Cauvery) over the last four to five days. However, we urge the authority to reconsider the decision (to release water to Tamil Nadu) as it might have a direct impact on the availability of potable water here in Karnataka,” the Deputy CM added.

Meanwhile, weighing in on the issue, former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said the Congress government has betrayed farmers in the state as it did not put forward their plight before the Cauvery Water Management Authority.

“Congress govt has betrayed the farmers, especially those inhabiting the Cauvery river basin. They did not fight their case before the CWMA. Now, they should stand up for our farmers before the Supreme Court and argue our case on merit rather than meekly surrendering to the authority and giving away water (to Tamil Nadu). This is dhokha (betrayal) with our farmers,” former CM Bommai said.

The Cauvery is an interstate basin that originates in Karnataka and passes through Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry before draining into the Bay of Bengal.

The total watershed of the Cauvery basin is 81,155 sq km, of which the river’s catchment area is about 34,273 sq km in Karnataka, 2,866 sq km in Kerala and the remaining 44,016 sq km in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.