Karnataka government on Wednesday filed an interlocutory application before the Supreme Court, expressing its inability to release 2000 cusecs of Cauvery water a day to Tamil Nadu.
According to Karnataka Water Resources Minister M. B. Patil, the State has informed the Apex Court in its petition, that the cumulative water storage in all its four reservoirs of Cauvery basin stood at just 15.92 tmcft as on December 11. The present storage level was not even adequate enough to meet its drinking water requirements, the State said.
Under such a situation which has arisen due to the failure of north-east monsoon, it is impossible to release 2000 cusecs of water a day to Tamil Nadu as directed by the Apex Court earlier, it said.
“Karnataka government filed the interlocutory application on Wednesday, after having a detailed discussion with the state’s legal team. In all likelihood, the case may come up for hearing on Thursday”, the minister said.
With depletion of water levels in four reservoirs, residents of various rural and urban centres, including Bengaluru would face severe drinking water shortage in the coming summer, if the State has to continue with the release of 2000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu, said a senior official in the department of water resources.
