Karnataka ministers meet PM to resolve Cauvery row
9 Oct 2012 6:24 AM IST
Central ministers from Karnataka and ruling BJP parliament members from the state met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday and urged him to allow the state immediately stop release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who hails from the Cauvery basin district of Mandya, Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa and state Congress leader HK Patil briefed the prime minister on the 'grim' drought situation in the state.
Kharge told reporters after the meeting that they appealed to the prime minister 'to resolve the problem at the earliest'.
'The situation is very grim. Hence, we urged the prime minister to resolve the situation,' Kharge said.
Karnataka has been appealing to the prime minister to withdraw his Sep 19 ruling he gave as head of the Cauvery River Authority [CRA] to release 9,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu daily from 20 Sep to 15 Oct.
Karnataka says it cannot release the water as it is facing the worst drought in 40 years and water in the Cauvery reservoirs were just adequate to meet its own needs.
However, the state has been releasing 9,000 cusecs daily from 29 Sep after the Supreme Court 28 Sep rapped it for not obeying the CRA directive.
Krishna had written to the prime minister last Saturday that 'the entire state [Karnataka] is waiting with bated breath to get immediate relief as otherwise it will spell disaster for the population in the Cauvery basin'.
Kharge said the team informed Manmohan Singh about the drinking water needs of Bangalore, Mandya, Hassan and Mysore and water requirement for the standing crops in the Cauvery basin area in the state.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who hails from the Cauvery basin district of Mandya, Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa and state Congress leader HK Patil briefed the prime minister on the 'grim' drought situation in the state.
Kharge told reporters after the meeting that they appealed to the prime minister 'to resolve the problem at the earliest'.
'The situation is very grim. Hence, we urged the prime minister to resolve the situation,' Kharge said.
Karnataka has been appealing to the prime minister to withdraw his Sep 19 ruling he gave as head of the Cauvery River Authority [CRA] to release 9,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu daily from 20 Sep to 15 Oct.
Karnataka says it cannot release the water as it is facing the worst drought in 40 years and water in the Cauvery reservoirs were just adequate to meet its own needs.
However, the state has been releasing 9,000 cusecs daily from 29 Sep after the Supreme Court 28 Sep rapped it for not obeying the CRA directive.
Krishna had written to the prime minister last Saturday that 'the entire state [Karnataka] is waiting with bated breath to get immediate relief as otherwise it will spell disaster for the population in the Cauvery basin'.
Kharge said the team informed Manmohan Singh about the drinking water needs of Bangalore, Mandya, Hassan and Mysore and water requirement for the standing crops in the Cauvery basin area in the state.
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