BENGALURU: Karnataka would release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu despite deficit rains after keeping in mind its own drinking water needs, said Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday.
Shivakumar, who is in charge of the Water Resources portfolio, said though the storage was not sufficient due to deficit rains, the State was expecting showers in the river area in a couple of days, and noted that there was a distress formula.
“Definitely we will have to honour the verdict of the authority (Cauvery Water Management Authority)... We didn’t have sufficient rains, but still we want to respect. Whatever water is available we are planning to release it, definitely we will honour it,” Shivakumar said in response to a question on Tamil Nadu’s letter to the Union Jal Shakti Minister regarding the release of pending water from Karnataka.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “We may not be able to release, without keeping for drinking water. Keeping drinking water in mind, we will release... We don’t have sufficient water, it is too less. Today, tomorrow we are expecting some rains... Last two-three years we had good rains, but this year it is not sufficient, but still we will respect.”
Asked whether there was a ‘plan B’ that Karnataka would work out with Tamil Nadu if rains were not sufficient, he said, “We will honour it, no doubt. But, there is a distress formula... We will look at it, definitely we will respect it.”
Chief Minister MK Stalin had on Thursday written to the Centre stating that Karnataka has not released the state’s due share of Cauvery water and the standing Kuruvai crop could be saved only if the former lets out the water immediately, and sought its immediate intervention on the matter.
In his letter to Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Stalin said the short-term Kuruvai was a crucial crop for the farmers of Delta region.
He said the quantum of water received at Biligundulu on the inter-State border from June 1 to July 17 was only 3.78 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) as against the prescribed level of 26.32 tmc for this period.