Karnataka Releases Water for Tamil Nadu Following Strong Backlash

BENGALURU: Over years of issues surrounding the sharing of Cauvery water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court of Karnataka has finally directed the government to release water for the neighboring state. The directive states that Karnataka will be releasing 15,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for ten days. But the statement from Supreme Court was followed by noticeable friction among the farmers.

"As we cannot defy a constitutional body like the Supreme court, with a heavy heart we have decided to release the water as directed by the apex court," states Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister, Karnataka.

However, the protests are only growing fierce, with Mandya and some other regions of the state taking the center stage. This has led to roads being blocked and schools getting shut down. The shortage in water levels has bothered the denizens settled in the area, and consequently the state government wants to file a petition with the Cauvery Supervisory Committee, seeking alterations in the directive. Commenting upon the situation Siddaramaiah further said that, “In 2012-13, the state had released water up to 10,000 cusecs as a good will gesture. This time also, we had sought to release 10,000 cusecs of water but the court did not approve. We will try to impress upon the court to modify its order and reduce the water to be released to TN, considering the distress and severity of water shortage in the state." The need for modification surfaced as an advice from Veerappa Moily, the former CM and Chikkaballapur MP. The final hearing regarding the decision has been scheduled on the 18^th of October.

The directive to ensure water supply for Tamil Nadu was taken based on the plight of the farmers, and the fact that without water all the samba crops would be destroyed. However, at the moment, the directive only paints a painful picture about the water supply scenario in some of the districts including Chamrajnagar, Mysuru, Mandya, Hassan, Ramangaram, and Bangalore.

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