It's against spirit of Constitution to release Cauvery water to TN: HDK

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Expressing his strong objections to Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee recommending Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday said it is against the spirit of the Constitution and federalism.

The former chief minister said the state government does not have the courage to defy this order. The CWRC today recommended that Karnataka needs to ensure releases from its reservoirs so that 3,000 cusecs are realised at Biligundlu starting from October 16 (8 am) up to October 31.

"Despite all the reservoirs being empty due to lack of rain, another big shock to the state is that the CWRC has again ordered to release 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu daily for 15 days. We have a doubt that the authority (Cauvery Water Management Authority- CWMA) and Regulatory Committee have been formed to give such water shocks to Karnataka," Kumaraswamy said in a statement.

These orders are against the spirit of the constitution and federalism, he said.

"Not only that, the patience and tolerance of Kannadigas are being tested. This order is a death knell for the interests of Karnataka. People of Bengaluru are facing a drinking water crisis. Enough water has not been supplied to crops of Cauvery basin farmers."

Kumaraswamy expressed outrage that by giving "order after order" to Karnataka to release water, the principles of equal justice have been destroyed.

According to official sources, Karnataka has made a submission before CWRC requesting to report to CWMA that the shortfall in cumulative inflows to Karnataka's four reservoirs up to October 10 is 50.891 per cent.