Cauvery issue: Karnataka to file appeal in Supreme Court today
The Karnataka Cabinet directed the Advocate General to file the state’s appeal before the Supreme Court on August 21 regarding the release of Cauvery River water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Earlier this week, Tamil Nadu had approached the Supreme Court with a plea to direct Karnataka to release 24,000 cusecs of Cauvery water daily for standing crops.
Karnataka has been maintaining that it will be able to release water to Tamil Nadu taking into account its needs like drinking water and standing crops in the Cauvery basin areas citing scarcity due to deficit monsoon rains.
“The Advocate General was invited to today’s cabinet. He has been directed to file the state’s appeal before the Supreme Court on Monday,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said.
Briefing reporters about the Cabinet decisions, Patil said, “He (AG) has been asked to file an appeal with all the detailed information based on the existing situation.”.
Not willing to share any details, the minister in response to a question said, “As we are filing an appeal before the Supreme Court, I don’t want to indulge in any discussion, as the court should not say you have told the press and you are coming before us.”
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also in charge of the Water Resources department, following Tamil Nadu approaching the SC, had on Tuesday said Karnataka would release 10 tmc ft of water from the Cauvery basin to the neighbouring State, while maintaining that the state doesn’t have sufficient water in dams to meet its requirements like drinking water and agriculture due to deficit monsoon.