BENGALURU: Karnataka Water Resources Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Tuesday said the state would decide whether to challenge the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's (CWRC) direction to release 3,500 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.
He also said that he will take the decision after consulting Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. "We can appeal before the Cauvery Water Management Authority," Reddy said.
Rejecting suggestions that the quantity would work out to nearly 6 TMC, he said, "No, it comes to around 4 TMC". Reddy said Karnataka's immediate concern was the availability of water in its reservoirs, particularly with the southwest monsoon yet to provide adequate inflows.
"We are facing a shortage of water. If it does not rain within the next 15 days, the shortage will become even more severe. If it rains, we will at least be able to breathe a little easier," he said.
The minister said the Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) reservoir currently had only about 8 TMC of live storage, excluding dead storage, while the overall availability in Harangi and Hemavathi reservoirs also needed to be assessed before taking a final call.
"We have to assess the situation because we need water throughout the year," he said. Stressing that drinking water remained the state's top priority, Reddy said Karnataka would carefully assess its annual requirements before deciding its course of action.
"Around 3.25 TMC is required for Bengaluru, Mandya, Malavalli, Ramanagara, Channapatna and other areas together. If it rains, that's fine. But what if it doesn't?" he asked.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka Chief Minister's office shared the gist of the deliberations of the 136th meeting of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC).