The former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, on Thursday criticised the Prime Minister and the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) Chairman, Manmohan Singh, for taking a “political decision” in asking Karnataka to release 9,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till October 15 “without studying the ground reality.”
As per the storage in the Karnataka reservoirs, including Krishnaraja Sagar and Hemavathy, the State was “not in a position to honour the decision of the PM,” he told The Hindu here on Thursday.
When Karnataka was facing the worst drought in 40 years, with over 155 taluks affected severely and there was problem in supplying even drinking water to cities like Bangalore, Mysore, Mandya and Hassan how could anyone expect the State to implement the PM’s ‘unjustified’ direction?, he said.
Describing the decision arrived at the CRA meeting on Wednesday as “disappointing,” the Janata Dal (Secular) president said both the AIADMK and the DMK were making a “false propaganda” that Karnataka was not honouring its commitment on the Cauvery water release without knowing the actual situation in the State. This was “very unfortunate.”
While the southwest monsoon, which brings rain in most parts of Karnataka, was over with inadequate spell, Tamil Nadu at least had some satisfaction as the northeast monsoon was expected to begin next month and go on till December, he said
