JOIN USChief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday addressed farmers on All India Radio (AIR-Akashvani) on Cauvery issue and promised them that the state government would take all steps to protect their interest.
Siddaramaiah said the state is facing severe distress due to deficient rainfall in the Cauvery basin. The total inflow into the four reservoirs in the Cauvery Basin - KRS, Kabini, Harangi and Hemavathy - would be 215 tmcft in a normal year. But this year the inflow is only 114.6 tmcft, he stated.
The state is complying with the Supreme Court order to release the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu with a heavy heart, he said. Siddaramaiah urged farmers not to be unduly worried as the government would fight it out legally to ensure justice is done to the state.
This apart, the ruling Congress is learnt to have decided to counter Opposition parties --- the BJP and the JD(S) --- if they try to take political mileage of the issue.
The ruling party also released statistics to the media on the Cauvery water released to Tamil Nadu as per the court order in the past.
According to the statistics, about 6 tmcft water was released to Tamil Nadu in 1995 when H D Deve Gowda was the chief minister. About 6.25 tmcft was released when S M Krishna was the Chief Minister. Karnataka released about 10,000 cuses water per day to Tamil Nadu for eight days in 2012 when Jagadish Shettar was the chief minister.