Even as the State witnessed violent protests over the Supreme Court’s modified order to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till September 20, the Karnataka government, on Tuesday, decided to abide by the Apex Court’s order, besides warning to deal with those violating law and order with an iron hand.
With the Apex Court refusing to provide any immediate relief, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has decided to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi seeking his intervention to bail out the state from the present crisis, as the storage position in reservoirs is poor.
A decision to this effect was taken after holding consultations with the senior leaders of the ruling Congress and discussing the issue at an emergency meeting of the council of ministers.
“I will meet Mr. Modi on Wednesday, if I get an appointment,” Mr. Siddaramaiah told reporters after the meeting. He said he would explain to the Prime Minister the ground realities and request him to convene a meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa to find a solution to the crisis, especially due to its potential to threaten the law and order situation in both the states.
Pointing out that the present directive by the Supreme Court to release water to Tamil Nadu was only an interim arrangement, he said the state had decided to release water despite serious distress hoping to gain when its main Special Leave Petition comes up before the Supreme Court on October 18.
Stating that Bengaluru and rest of the state had remained calm and peaceful after the Monday’s violence, he assured people, especially linguistic minorities, of making honest and serious efforts to protect them as well as their properties. “We are committed to protecting the properties of Tamil-speaking people. We appeal to Tamil Nadu to protect Kannada-speaking people in that state,” he said.
Observing that violence was not the solution to the Cauvery row, he appealed to people to maintain calm. He particularly appealed to people of Bengaluru to exercise restraint and ensure that the image of Bengaluru as an international city is not sullied.
