Karnataka, in a normal-rainfall year, has to release 9.4tmcft in June
BENGALURU: After days of tough stance, Karnataka govt Sunday made a calibrated climbdown, saying it will release 1tmcft of river water to Tamil Nadu daily as mandated by
Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee
only if catchment areas receive adequate rain in the period under watch.
This was decided by an all-party meeting called by
CM Siddaramaiah
here. Karnataka will file appeal before Cauvery Water Management Authority as suggested at the meeting attended by deputy CM and water resources minister DK Shivakumar, BJP members led by R Ashoka, JD(S) and Karnataka Raitha Sangh representatives.
"Our legal team had suggested we should not be 'intransigent' and comply with the CWRC order if there is ample rainfall as we can release 20tmcft.
However, we can discharge approximately 8,000 cusecs for now. In this context, we called the meeting," the CM said. tnn
K'taka's cumulative water storage not enough: CM
Karnataka, in a normal-rainfall year, has to release 9.4tmcft in June and 34.24tmcft in July. "As of date, we've discharged only about 5tmcft due to shortage of water in our own dams. The
CWRA
had recommended release of 20tmcft from July 12 to 31," he said.
The CM said Karnataka's cumulative water storage in the four Cauvery-basin reservoirs -- Harangi, Kabini, Hemavathi and Krishnaraja Sagara -- is not enough for the state's irrigation and drinking requirements as it has filled up to 63% as on date.
"With Kabini filled to 96% of its capacity, some 20,000 cusecs was released in the past two days. Around 13,000 cusecs was discharged on Sunday alone. In total, we've released the quantum wecouldn't store beyond the full capacity of the reservoir," CM Siddaramaiah said.
He added Karnataka may not get excess rainfall this year, despite forecast of a normal monsoon.
Harangi and Hemavathi have replenished 74% and 56%, respectively, while KRS has just 54% storage. Senior advocate Mohan Katarki said inflow into the reservoirs has a 30% deficit.
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