Owing to deficit rainfall and low storage levels in reservoirs of the Cauvery basin in Karnataka, the State Government has expressed its inability to ensure discharge of water to Tamil Nadu.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra told presspersons on Tuesday that the State government would inform the Supreme Court its difficulty to release water by explaining the ground reality.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said that she had ordered filing of an interlocutory petition in the Supreme Court seeking release of Cauvery water as per the final award of the Cauvery Water Tribunal. The petition has been necessitated as Karnataka had refused to release the water.
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Following deficit rainfall during the south-west monsoon, Mr. Jayachandra said storage levels in four reservoirs - Harangi Hemavathy, Krishnarajasagar and Kabini - was sufficient only to meet drinking water requirements of the towns in the Cauvery basin.
The gross storage capacity in four reservoirs was 114.57 tmc ft. while the actual storage was 66.75 tmc ft.as on August 22, below 50 per cent of the storage capacity.
Karnataka has already decided not to release water for water-intensive crops such as paddy and sugarcane owing to poor storage in its reservoirs. Tamil Nadu has been seeking release of water by Karnataka as per the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal.
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Mr. Jayachandra said Tamil Nadu must understand the gravity of water crisis in Karnataka. “How can we release water when there is no water in our dams,” he said.