CHENNAI: State irrigation minister Duraimurugan on Tuesday condemned Karnataka for refusing to release water to Tamil Nadu as per the order of the Cauvery water Regulation Committee (CwRC).

Taking strong exception to the statement of Karnataka ministers refusing to release water to TN, Duraimurugan, in a statement issued late Tuesday night, cited the 63.80 tmcft storage in the four Cauvery basin reservoirs in the neighbouring state and said that the statement issued by a senior Karnataka minister without factoring in the welfare of both state farmers was highly condemnable.

Remarking that TN government would never accept such acts which are detrimental to the interest of Tamil Nadu farmers, Duramurugan said that the state government would appraise the Supreme Court on the issue and make all efforts to secure Cauvery water.

Reasoning that consumptive use of Karnataka per year was only 6.75 tmcft and the state requires to extract only 33.75 tmcft from Cauvery River for the purpose, the TN minister said that the neighbouring is required to ensure return flows to the extent of 27 tmcft after meeting the drinking water requirement.

This being case, denial of water (to TN) in pretext of meeting drinking water requirement was tantamount to Karnataka maintaining a vengeful attitude towards the farmers of Tamil Nadu, he added.