CM at all-party meet on Cauvery: KRS Dam functioning at only 54% capacity

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: At an all-party meeting on the Cauvery water release issue convened on Sunday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah disclosed that the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam in Mandya was functioning at 54 per cent capacity compared to other dams in the Cauvery basin, which were at 63 per cent.

He added that only Kabini dam was at 96 per cent and therefore water had been released from the reservoir to Tamil Nadu in the past week.

The CM's legal experts, Mohan Katarki among them, had been consulted and they had settled on 8,000 cuscec as an acceptable amount to be released.

“According to the legal team, only if there is heavy rain can we release the required water demanded by the CWRC. Otherwise, only 8,000 cusec can be released. Let us file an appeal against this (one tmcft per day demand). The suggestion we have received is that we should not appear stubborn before the river tribunal,” Siddaramaiah said.

In 2023, Karnataka had suffered from drought-like conditions, receiving much less rainfall than what is usually the case. This year, rains have been better but the State government claims it is still difficult to release the quantity of water to Tamil Nadu that is being demanded of them.

The meeting was attended by Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet including Deputy CM and Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar, apart from members of the Opposition parties BJP and JD(S).

Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Assembly R Ashoka and JD(S) MLA from GT Devegowda were in attendance. Farmer leaders and legal consultants to the State government also attended the proceedings.