CM Siddaramaiah called an all-party meeting to decide his response to the Cauvery issue.
Highlights
- "What is contempt (of court) when we are dying?" said Mallikarjun Kharge
- BJP boycotted all-party meet, demanded special session of legislature
- Cabinet will decide whether a special legislature session will be held
After a late night cabinet meeting, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said it has been decided to defer the release of more Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The decision came on the heels of an all-party meeting, where the leaders said the Supreme Court's order to release of 6,000 cusecs of water a day for a week, starting today, was "unimplementable".
Here are the latest developments in this big story:
The Karnataka cabinet has decided to hold a special session of the legislative assembly on September 23, which will discuss the state's response to Tuesday's Supreme Court order. Till the assembly reaches a decision, the cabinet has decided to defer the release of water, which usually happens at night.
The Supreme Court order is "not implementable", said former Union law minister Veerappa Moily after an all-party meeting earlier in the evening. "What is contempt (of court) when we are dying?" added Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge.
Former Prime Minister and JD(U) leader HD Deve Gowda told NDTV that his advice was not to release water."Drinking water is more important than crops.If crops fail, farmers can be compensated," he said.
Former chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy expressed the view that no Cauvery water should be released to Tamil Nadu now despite the Supreme Court order.
The BJP boycotted the all-party meet and demanded a special session of the legislature.
The government also fears that the release of more water can result in another outbreak of protests across the state. Yesterday, eminent jurist and constitutional expert Fali Nariman had warned the Supreme Court that the order will have "consequences" and that is the "ground reality."
Karnataka remained largely peaceful today, and schools, colleges and offices remained open. Sporadic protests were reported from parts of Bengaluru and Mandya.
While it has opposed any sharing of water with Tamil Nadu, the BJP -- one of the two largest opposition parties -- has remained critical of the Siddaramaiah government's handling of the situation.
Karnataka is opposing the release of more water, claiming that with the rainfall being deficient, there is not enough water for drinking purposes. More than 80 per cent of the water requirements of key cities like Bengaluru and Mysuru are met from the Cauvery waters.
The livelihoods of more than 4 lakh farmers and 16 lakh farm laborers in Tamil Nadu are dependent on release of Cauvery water. Karnataka has claimed Tamil Nadu will benefit from the north-east monsoon in October.
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