JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy said the state government should invite Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti and Central government officials to visit the Cauvery basin to assess the situation.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on Sunday, Kumaraswamy said Tamil Nadu is trying to portray at the national level that there is sufficient water in the Cauvery basin. “Karnataka needs to be cautious. The sole intention of Tamil Nadu is to get the Cauvery Management Board constituted. I cannot understand why Central ministers from the state and BJP MPs are keeping quiet. The Central government can take a decision any time,” he said. The BJP seemed to be more interested in winning Assembly bypolls rather than protecting the interests of the state, he added.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reiterated that Karnataka is not in a position to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu as there is no sufficient water in the state’s reservoirs even to meet drinking water requirements.

A team of officials from Tamil Nadu on Saturday had requested Karnataka to release three tmcft of water from Cauvery basin dams on humanitarian grounds.

“Tamil Nadu officials had come...they held a meeting with our chief secretary. We have explained to them that there is no water in Cauvery basin reservoirs. We have told them that if there are rains and water availability increases, it will be provided for drinking,” Siddaramaiah told reporters.