“Our Cauvery our right”: Kannada actors Sudeep, Darshan raise voice amid row with Tamil Nadu

Amid the Cauvery water sharing row, Kannada superstars Darshan Thoogudeepa and Kichcha Sudeep stepped forward to voice their concern

Bengaluru: Amid the Cauvery water sharing row, Kannada superstars Darshan Thoogudeepa and Kichcha Sudeep stepped forward to voice their concern and advocate for a resolution.

Taking to X, Sudeep on Wednesday wrote, “Cauvery is our right” and expressed confidence in the government’s commitment to the people. He also called for an immediate intervention of experts to formulate a strategy.

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“Our Cauvery is our right. I believe that the government that has won with so much consensus will not abandon the people who believe in Kaveri. I demand that the experts formulate a strategy immediately and give justice. I also have my voice in the land-water-language struggle. May Mother Kaveri protect Karunad,” read Sudeep’s post on X.

Meanwhile, Darshan Thoogudeepa highlighted the scarcity of water that the people of the state have been facing.

“There has been a continuous attempt to get more water by cutting the Kaveri water from Karnataka’s share. This year there is a lot of water scarcity in the state. At this time, there is a lot of damage to the irrigated area, so let’s consider all the statistics and get justice as soon as possible,” wrote Thoogudeepa on X.

This comes amidst, Karnataka, complying with the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) order is releasing 5000 cusecs of water to its neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, for 15 days.

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. Further decisions will be taken after meeting with the Union Water Resources Minister. 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.

The meeting on the Cauvery water dispute was attended by deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, Union Ministers Prahlad Joshi, Shobha Karandlaje, Bhagwant Khooba, Narayanaswamy, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Supreme Court lawyers representing Karnataka.
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.