Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has convened a meeting of floor leaders of both Houses and MPs from the State on Tuesday to discuss the situation arising out of the Supreme Court’s directive to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water a day to Tamil Nadu for 10 days.
A decision to this effect was taken after an emergency meeting with senior ministers, top-ranking officials and legal experts in Bengaluru on Monday soon after the Apex Court issued the directive to release water.
Before the floor leaders’ meeting, the Chief Minister will consult the State legal team which is appearing before the Supreme Court. The proposed meeting of floor-leaders would decide the next course of action to be taken by Karnataka which is left with poor storage in its reservoirs in the Cauvery basin due to deficient rainfall, he said.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said the State was expected to get the copy of the Apex Court’s order either late tonight or Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, the State government is under pressure already as farmers in the Cauvery basin have taken to streets, demanding that water should not be released. Referring to the ongoing protests by farmers, Mr. Siddaramaiah appealed for maintaining calm and desisting from taking law into hands.
Earlier, Law Minister T. B. Jayachandra expressed concern that the Supreme Court order had put the state in a spot of bother as the present storage in the reservoirs from the Cauvery basin was not adequate enough to meet the drinking water requirements.
Kannada Okkoota calls for Karnataka bandh on September 9
The Kannada Okkoota, which is a federation of various pro-Kannada organisations, has called for a Karnataka bandh on September 9 to protest the Supreme Court’s directive to release water to Tamil Nadu.
Okkoota president Vatal Nagaraj told reporters here on Monday that the bandh was aimed at highlighting Karnataka’s poor storage situation in the reservoirs of Cauvery basin.
