In a rare show of unity, opposition parties yesterday again urged the Karnataka government not to release Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu even if it meant disobeying the Supreme Court’s fresh order.
“We have told Chief Minister Siddaramaiah not to release water at any cost and abide by the state legislature’s unanimous resolution to retain it only for drinking purpose,” said opposition leader and former Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister Jagadish Shettar after a three-hour long all-party meeting here.
The top court on Friday ordered the state to release 6,000 cusecs per day to Tamil Nadu for six days from yesterday.
“There is no question of releasing water any more. We are with the government on this issue as unanimously decided by the state legislature last week in the interests of the people,” said Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.
Asserting that the opposition parties were with the ruling Congress in upholding the resolution, JD-S lawmaker Y S V Dutta said they were even ready to go to jail with the chief minister if the Supreme Court sent them there for not obeying its order.
“Let not the Supreme Court take only the chief minister to task. We are ready to share the blame for disrespecting its order again. First of all, where is the water to release for irrigation when whatever we have is not sufficient to meet the drinking needs of the people in the region till June next,” Dutta asked.
Deficit monsoon rains have depleted the storage levels in the four reservoirs across the river basin to an all-time low of 27tmc (thousand million cubic) feet, which is barely sufficient for supplying drinking water to the people in cities, towns and villages in the state’s southern region.