Karnataka on Monday night began releasing water to parts of the Cauvery river basin, including those in Tamil Nadu, ending its defiance of Supreme Court orders, The Hindu reported. The Supreme Court had directed it to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to the neighbouring state from October 1 to 6. Karnataka had made the decision on Monday night, though the state’s resolution did not make it clear how much water would be released or whether it would be for Tamil Nadu.
Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu’s ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will be meeting officials from the Prime Minister’s Office to discuss the ongoing crisis on Tuesday, the English daily reported.
Karnataka's decision is being seen as a largely symbolic one, made so as not to disobey the Supreme Court's orders for a third time. Officials said the water storage in its four reservoirs had risen to 34.13 TMC, prompting the House to pass a resolution in a special Assembly session to meet the farmers' request for water. On September 23, the Assembly had agreed to release only drinking water to farmers in the region when the reservoirs had only 27.6 TMC of water.
The resolution follows the Supreme Court's warning to Karnataka against violating its latest order to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The Karnataka Assembly had earlier announced its decision to provide water to its own farmers.
Earlier on Monday, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had moved the Supreme Court, challenging its September 30 order to the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Water Management Board. The Karnataka government had filed a review petition challenging the apex court's order, which it said violated the National Water Policy of 2012. The policy allows Karnataka to prioritise the use of Cauvery water for its own drinking water purposes.
In its review petition, Karnataka said the court's direction to form the board amounted to "judicial legislation". Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had urged the Centre to play a "greater and more proactive" role to resolve the interstate water-sharing dispute.
The Cauvery issue escalated after the Supreme Court, on September 5, directed Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of water from the Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu. It later modified its verdict and reduced the quantity to 12,000 cusecs, but the order had led to widespread protests by farmers in Karnataka, who had argued that the state needed the water more than its neighbour.
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