Meeting on Cauvery water row begins in Delhi

NEW DELHI: A meeting chaired by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with Union Ministers and All-Party MPs to discuss the Cauvery water-sharing dispute has begun in the national capital today. The crucial meeting is being attended by deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, Union Ministers Prahlada Joshi, Shobha Karandlaje, Bhagwant Khooba, Narayanaswamy, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and other Supreme Court lawyers.

State Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, Cauvery belt representing MLAs, Ministers and legal team are part of the meeting. During the meeting, measures and decisions that are to be taken to protect the interest of the state in order to effectively manage the difficult situation faced in the issue of Cauvery River water sharing will be discussed.

The conference came after the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) asked Karnataka to release 5000 cusecs of Cauvery Water till September 26. Karnataka has started the release of the water but continues to challenge CWMA to reduce the required water, citing severe drought in parts of the state.

Ahead of the meeting in Delhi today, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that all the MPs of the state will meet along with several state ministers today and together they will safeguard the interests of Karnataka.

DK Shivakumar told ANI “All the MPs of the state are meeting. We will join together and safeguard the interests of Karnataka. We are appealing to the Supreme Court also to help.” Apart from the Cauvery dispute, state projects pending before the Central government and drought relief issues will also be discussed in the meeting.

Earlier in the day on Tuesday a delegation of Tamil Nadu MPs and MLAs led by State Water Resources Minister Durai Murgan met with Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Shekhawat in an effort to break the impasse.

Tamil Nadu has alleged that the Karnataka State Government was not complying with the order of the Cauvery Water Management Authority which had asked Karnataka to release 5000 cusecs of Cauvery Water till September 26. “Karnataka dams have water, but the state is refusing to release it as per the directions of the Cauvery Water Management Board,” said Durai Murugan on Tuesday.