Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah Prepares for Assembly Session and Decides on Cauvery Water Release
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 14: CM Siddaramaiah emphasized the importance of ministers being well-prepared to address departmental issues at the assembly session and to attend it in person. Siddaramaiah held a pre-session meeting on Sunday with key officials ahead of the assembly session starting tomorrow. During the meeting at the Home Office Krishna, the Chief Minister gathered detailed insights from departmental secretaries on possible discussion topics and instructed them to compile relevant supportive data. He stressed that all secretaries and heads of departments must attend the session, without fail, and assist their Ministers in replying to the discussions. Additionally, he said that he would intervene if necessary. Senior officials, including Chief Secretary Dr. Rajneesh Goel and Deputy Chief Secretary L.K. Ateeq, were also present at the meeting.
Earlier in the day, Karnataka Government decided to release only 8,000 cusecs of water from the Cauvery River to Tamil Nadu instead of one thousand million cubic meters of water. This decision was taken after an ‘all-party meeting’ was held on Sunday to discuss issues related to the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s (CWRC) at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, BJP leader CT Ravi, and other prominent leaders of the state. After an all-party meeting at Vidhana Soudha, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said, “Today an all-party meeting took place in which Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, BJP leaders and Mysuru basin leaders were present. They opined that we should not release water and appeal before CWMA. Mohan Katarki, a member of the legal team suggested that considering the present situation, we can release 8,000 cusecs of water and if rain comes we will increase the number. This decision has been taken in the meeting.”
Meanwhile, CM Siddaramaiah in a press conference said, “The collective opinion is that we can’t leave 1 TMC water to Tamil Nadu every day. Second is that we have to appeal before the court as we can’t leave 1 TMC water and we have decided to leave 8,000 cusecs every day to Tamil Nadu.” On the issue, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said, “At a very early stage, the regulatory authority had conducted a meeting. They have decided that one thousand million cubic (TMC) of water has to be given. We have decided to release 8,0000 cusecs. We have a 30% shortage of water. We will appeal before the monitoring committee. We have to respect the decision and protect the interests of our farmers also.”
