Cauvery row: Karnataka says can't provide additional water to Tamil Nadu till December

NEW DELHI: The Karnataka government, led by CM Siddaramaiah, filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking modification of its order asking it to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu till September 27. According to reports, the state government today said it cannot provide additional water from the Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu till December because its reservoirs don't have adequate water and its major cities are on the verge of running out of drinking water.

The petition also argues that from June to September, there tends to be a shortfall in release. As Tamil Nadu will get the north-east monsoon in October, Karnataka will release water as per the neighbouring state's requirements depending on quantum of rainfall.

Last week, Siddaramaiah said Karnataka had placed certain facts based on ground reality before the Cauvery Supervisory Committee but it still passed an order directing the state to release 3,000 cusecs per day between September 21 and 30.

An even bigger blow for Karnataka was the directive of a bench, comprising Justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit, to the Centre to constitute a Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) within four weeks, to monitor water flow and adjust it according to yearly variations. The directive will mean CWMB will take control of all Cauvery basin reservoirs managed by Karnataka at the moment.

Siddaramaiah has appraised the party high command of the 'injustice' and discussed his plan not to implement the SC order.

Earlier, he also said that this order is unimplementable and explained the need for drinking water and the water shortage to both the supervisory committee and the Supreme Court.

Last week, Home minister G Parameshwara went around Bengaluru city to oversee security and ensure that there are no untoward incidents like the bus burning and arson on September 12.