Bommai to Siddaramaiah: Protect Kannadigas' interests on Cauvery water

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bomnai has written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the objection raised by Tamil Nadu to the non-release of Cauvery water and urged him to take all steps to protect the interest of Kannadigas.

He referred to media reports which indicated that the TN Government may move the Supreme Court on this matter. So, the state government must collect realistic figures about the issue and initial legal action in the coming days, Bomai stressed.

He said, "On June 1, the four dams in the Cauvery basin had a storage of 24.352 tmc ft of water. Similarly, Mettur Reservoir had 69.77 tmc and the Bhavani sagar dam had 16.653 tmc of water. Besides, around 14.054 tmc ft of water had been released to Tamil Nadu via the Biligundlu measuring point. All put together, Mettur Dam had received 83.831 tmc of water at that time. According to Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, Kuruvai crops are grown on 1.80 lakh acres in Tamil Nadu for which 32 tmc ft of water is used. But as on August 7, Tamil Nadu had utilized 60.97 tmc of water for the Kuruvai crops which was double that laid out in the CWDT order. The officials from Karnataka kept quiet without protesting in CWDT and that has impacted the state's interest,'' he said.

The former CM said the current storage of water in four dams in the Cauvery basin is not sufficient to meet the drinking water requirements of people of three to four districts including the State's capital, Bengaluru.

The khariff crops in Karnataka would face severe water shortage in case water is released to the neighboring state.

As Tamil Nadu will receive good rain from the NorthEast Monsoon, Karnataka must take a firm stand against releasing water to the neighbouring state, he added.