On Thursday, DK Shivakumar, the deputy chief minister of Karnataka, announced that his state would ask the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to rethink its choice to share water with Tamil Nadu. At a time when the state was experiencing a water shortage, according to Shivakumar, the CWMA has directed the Karnataka government to release 10,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu over the next 15 days.
Deputy CM Shivakumar said, “We received an instruction that we have to release 10,000 cusecs of water (from Cauvery) for 15 days. We are aware that the state is currently grappling with a water crisis. We are facing severe drought in some areas.”
“Still, in compliance with the Supreme Court directive, we have released the water (from the Cauvery) over the last four to five days. However, we urge the authority to reconsider the decision (to release water to Tamil Nadu) as it might have a direct impact on the availability of potable water here in Karnataka,” the Deputy CM added.
In the meantime, former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai commented on the situation on Thursday, claiming that the Congress government had betrayed the state’s farmers by failing to bring their plight before the Cauvery Water Management Authority. “The Congress government has abandoned farmers, particularly those who live in the Cauvery river basin. Before the CWMA, they didn’t argue their case. Now, instead of submitting to authority and giving water (to Tamil Nadu) away, they should defend our farmers before the Supreme Court and present our case on the merits. This is a dhokha (betrayal) of our farmers, according to the former CM Bommai.