Former MLA and Janata Dal (Secular) leader A.T.Ramaswamy has criticised the State government for releasing more water from Hemavati reservoir in Goruru than KRS in Mandya district.
He told presspersons here on Wednesday that the turn of events might pit people of neighbouring districts against each other. “The amount of water released, since the Supreme Court ordered for the release of water from Hemavati reservoir, is more than what released from KRS in Mandya. While the Minister in-charge of Mandya can protect the farmers of that district, what was the Minister in-charge of Hassan doing all these days”, he asked.
As on Wednesday morning, water available in the reservoir was only 9.72 tmc ft. and the total outflow for the day was 8,330 cusecs. “If water is released from the reservoir at the same pace, the water level would reach dead storage by September 20. From then on it would be difficult to provide water for either drinking water purpose or agriculture activities”, he said.
Regarding the latest Supreme Court judgment on the issue, Mr. Ramaswamy said “It is not clear on what basis the Supreme Court gave this order when there is no national water policy."
Mr. Ramaswamy also felt that the State government failed in its strategies on the issue. “There is no consistency in the Chief Minister’s statements. Earlier the Cabinet took a decision to appeal to the people not to grow paddy this year and submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court that it can provide only 10,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for six days. Later, the government said water would be provided for cultivation. There is no consistency in the government’s statements.”
