According to DK Shivakumar, the deputy chief minister of Karnataka, the state will ask the Cauvery Management Authority (CWMA) to come up with a new plan for sharing river water with Tamil Nadu in a year with insufficient rainfall.
“After today’s Cauvery Management Authority meeting, a decision will be made as to what the outline of the formula in the distress year to be.” Shivakumar, who is also holding the irrigation portfolio, told reporters in Sadashivnagar.
“We should be clear about the distress formula before demanding it. For that, we will first discuss about the formula (ourselves). A meeting has been called for this evening (Friday),” he added.
According to him, the state’s attorneys who are representing the state in the Cauvery case before the Supreme Court will participate in a meeting with senior attorneys, the advocate general, and senior irrigation experts in the Chief Minister’s office. He added that he had told the representatives to show up in person today rather than online for the CWMA meeting. Additionally, he asserted that the state government had overseen the Karnataka Bandh in such a way that, while protests were permitted, daily life was not interfered with.
Farmer unions and pro-Kannada organisations have called for a Karnataka Bandh today after the Cauvery Regulatory Committee (CWRC) ordered to release of 3,000 cusecs of water at Biligundlu to Tamil Nadu starting from September 28 till October 15, 2023. In the earlier spell, it was 5,000 cusecs.
Although Karnataka petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the CWRC’s directive, arguing that it could not release the water to Tamil Nadu due to the year’s inadequate rainfall, the court declined to get involved. Many demonstrators could be seen holding signs declaring their ownership of the Cauvery River. According to the police, more than 50 members of the organizations have been detained in order to preserve law and order during the bandh call.