Cauvery row: Karnataka Congress MPs seek PM's intervention

About 11 Congress MPs from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha staged a protest today at the Gandhi statue in Parliament premises against the Supreme Court order on Cauvery water.

The apex court had on September 20 directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of the river water per day to lower riparian Tamil Nadu by September 27 and suggested the formation of Cauvery Management Board. The order led to widespread protests in both the states.

"We have requested Modiji to intervene in the matter immediately and call the meeting of Chief Ministers and give directions to settle the Cauvery water dispute amicably," Lok Sabha MP D K Suresh from Bangalore Rural constituency said after making a representation to the PM.

The Congress MPs also demanded that the Cauvery Management Board should not be set up to resolve the water sharing issue between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, he said.

Suresh said that it would be difficult for the state to release water to Tamil Nadu as it does not have water in the reservoirs because of severe drought in last two years.

It barely has water to meet the drinking water demand, he added. The MPs complained that the PM did not give adequate time to hear their concerns.

They submitted separate memorandums to the Prime Minister and Water Resource minister Uma Bharti.

In the representation, the MPs informed the Prime Minister that the Karnataka government has been making sincere efforts to comply with the February 5, 2007 order passed by the Cauvery Water Tribunal. But the Tamil Nadu government has taken the matter before Supreme Court which was unwarranted.

"Water sharing dispute can be settled among the states by mutual discussions and consent. But the repeated decisions of the Supreme Court, instead of resolving the issue, have aggravated the situation, creating severe rift between the two states," they said.

Muddahanume Gowda, Lok Sabha MP from Tumkur constituency, said the PM should intervene and take a call on sharing of Cauvery after assessing the ground reality of water availability in the reservoirs of Karnataka.