Bengaluru, Sep 27, 2023: The Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC) on Tuesday recommended the Karnataka government to release 3,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu for 18 days from September 28.
The ruling Congress in Karnataka has now decided to challenge the Cauvery panel’s orders in the Supreme Court.
"We will challenge the orders of the regulatory committee before the Supreme Court. I have discussed it with the advocates and they have opined that it should be challenged," said Siddaramaiah.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar, who also holds the Water Resources portfolio, on Tuesday welcomed the CWRC rejecting Tamil Nadu’s request for 12,500 cusecs of water from the river.
Earlier, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) ordered Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days from September 18. The Supreme Court declined to intervene in the matter and upheld the directive of the CWMA.
This triggered protests in Karnataka as farmers in Mandya started to demonstrate against CWMA’s order. On Tuesday, over 300 farmers and pro-Kannada organisations called for a ’Bengaluru Bandh’.
The Cauvery water-sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is an age-old issue, that began in 1892, when the Madras Presidency made a water-sharing agreement with the princely state of Mysore.
Courtesy: India Today