Water in reservoirs very less, Siddu tells TN

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that deficit rainfall in Karnataka had prevented them from releasing Cauvery water from the state’s reservoirs to Tamil Nadu.

Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam in Srirangapatna taluk of Mandya district maintained a water level of 113.28 feet on Saturday while its maximum capacity is 49,452 feet.

The dam which is watered by the Cauvery, will reach dead storage levels at 60 feet, meaning the water will become unusable. He made the comments to mediapersons at the Mysuru airport.

He had been in town to attend the 10th StateLevel Advocates’ Conference organized by the Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC).

The remarks come in the backdrop of Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan on Friday expressing dissatisfaction with the fact that the Karnataka State government making it clear that it could only release 8,000 cusecs of water by August 22.

Duraimurugan had pointed out that in the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC) meeting it was decided that 15,000 cusecs per day would be released by Karnataka for 15 days.

The Tamil Nadu government led by DMK is mooting approaching the Supreme Court (SC) over the issue.

Siddaramaiah pointed out that there had been an inadequate amount of rainfall in Kodagu district, which constitutes the catchment area for Cauvery river.

“On the question of releasing water, we have been facing some issues pertaining to scarcity of rain. Rains have been insufficient in Kerala and in Kodagu. As a result, there has been less water in our reservoirs. If we have excess water, we would have released it to Tamil Nadu. This time around, we were not able to do it,” Siddaramaiah said.

“Now, Tamil Nadu has hit out at us for not releasing enough water. However, we should also look at our own circumstances, including our agricultural produce. Two parties have to co-operate with each other in trying times,” he added.

Gruha Lakshmi postponed again

The CM also revealed that the Gruha Lakshmi scheme would not be inaugurated on August 27 as planned since they wanted Congress MP from Wayanad Rahul Gandhi to attend the programme and he hadn’t given them a date yet.

Siddaramaiah however, assured that the scheme would be launched by the end of August since “everything was ready”.

The programme was supposed to be start by August 20 and has been postponed again.

Yes to quota in higher courts: CM

Siddaramaiah batted for reservation for marginalized castes in the higher courts.

“Reservation in higher courts is necessary. There already is reservation in lower courts. The same isn’t the case in lower courts. If it is implemented there, it would be possible to provide useful justice there,” he said.

He also called upon disadvantaged sections of society to pursue law as a profession, citing his own example and that of BR Ambedkar.

Siddaramaiah comes from the Kuruba caste, a community whose traditional occupation is herding goats while Ambedkar was from the Mahar Dalit community in Maharashtra.