The Karnataka government is likely to file a petition in the Supreme Court on Friday seeking a review of its Thursday’s order asking Karnataka to release 2.44 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu for irrigating its standing crop in the delta basin.
This is said to have been decided during the flash visit to Delhi made by Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and his Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday evening to hold discussions on the latest development with the State’s senior counsel Fali Nariman here.
While Mr. Shettar merely told journalists that he had a discussion with Mr. Nariman and the decisions taken in the meeting would be announced in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Friday, State counsel Mohan Katarke told The Hindu that the legal experts were examining the matter. “The State has been advised by the legal luminaries to obey the SC’s order on water release [to Tamil Nadu]” he said.
The CM and Mr. Bommai left for Bangalore night itself on a special flight. Informed sources said the State government had given fresh technical data on the water availability, drinking water requirements and other details which would be examined and utilised if there was a move to file a fresh petition in the Apex Court.
It may be noted that Mr. Bommai had, earlier in the day, informed the Legislative Assembly that “it [the government] is not in a hurry to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu”. Water-levels had depleted across all the Karnataka Cauvery basin reservoirs and there was not enough storage to meet the drinking water requirements of Bangalore, Mysore and other towns in the basin, he had claimed.
