State to move SC over Cauvery order

The Karnataka government has decided to file a petition in the Supreme Court on Monday,  seeking modification of its September 20 order directing the state to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

Karnataka Water Resources Minister M B Patil along with Chief Secretary Arvind Jadhav on Sunday held a series of meetings here with senior counsel Fali S Nariman, the head of the state’s legal team in the Cauvery case.

After the meeting, Patil told DH that the state has decided to file a petition in the apex court, seeking modification of its earlier order. Karnataka will also explain to the court that it is not in a position to release any more water to Tamil Nadu due to low storage in its reservoirs in the Cauvery basin.

The state will also bring to the court’s notice the resolution passed by both the Houses of the legislature on September 23, that the existing water in the Cauvery basin reservoirs in Karnataka should be used only for drinking purpose and not for any other needs.

With the Cauvery water-sharing issue coming up in the apex court on Tuesday, the state, on the legal team’s advice, has decided to bring to the court’s knowledge the existing water levels in the reservoirs, requirement for drinking need and the resolutions passed.

The possible intention of the state is to avoid any adverse order from the Supreme Court in view of the state government’s decision not to release water to Tamil Nadu as per the September 20 order. 

The Supreme Court on September 5 directed Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu for 10 days and on September 12, the court reduced it to 12,000 cusecs and asked the state to release water up to September 20.

Though the Supervisory Committee headed by Union Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar asked Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs water from September 21 to September 30, the Court later directed the state to release 6,000 cusecs water till September 27.

It directed Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to file their objections by September 23. As both the states have filed their objections, the matter will come up for hearing on Monday.