Stalin moves Assembly resolution against Karnataka on Cauvery water

Accusing Karnataka of creating an “artificial crisis” by not releasing Cauvery River water according to the monthly schedule, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday moved a resolution in the Assembly urging the Union Government to ask the neighbouring state to the follow the directions of the Cauvery Water Management Authority.

Stalin moved the resolution on the first day of the Assembly by detailing the steps taken by the DMK government for the past few months to ensure that Karnataka adheres to the monthly water schedule announced by the Supreme Court in its final verdict in February 2018.

He said Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan has met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat twice in the past few months to press Tamil Nadu’s stance on the issue. “Karnataka has created an artificial crisis. That’s why we get didn’t required amount of water from Karnataka this year. We have realised only 46.1 tmcft of water in Biligundulu from June 1 to October 3, 2023,” Stalin told the assembly.

The Chief Minister said the DMK government, ever since it assumed office in May 2021, has opened the sluices of the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur on time, resulting in record cultivation of paddy – 46.2 lakh tonnes in 2021-2022 and 45.9 lakh tonnes in 2022-2023.

“Since the dam’s storage was 69.7 tmcft on June 1 and keeping in mind the southwest monsoon, we decided to open Mettur dam on June 12. Cauvery water began reaching even the tail-end areas for cultivation of kuruvai crops. But we didn’t get our due,” Stalin said, adding that the government has so far released 90.25 tmcft of water for cultivation from June 1.

Asserting that the DMK government will not give away even an inch of Tamil Nadu’s rights on the Cauvery issue, Stalin said the Union Government should intervene and direct the Karnataka government to release water by sticking to the orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).

Durai Murugan asked political parties in Tamil Nadu to speak in “one voice” like their counterparts in Karnataka to send a “strong message” to the neighbouring state.