"Karnataka Government Failed To Convince...": HD Kumaraswamy On Cauvery Row

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy accused the Congress-led Karnataka government of having failed to convince the Cauvery Water Management Authority and Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee of the situation prevailing in the state thereby ended up being directed to release 5,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu daily for 15 days. 

After visiting the KRS reservoir here, he also told reporters that the farmers of the Cauvery region are facing severe problems as "the water level in the reservoir is going down almost every day".

"Almost every day in the reservoir (KRS reservoir) the water level is going down. Two times water has to be released for the standing crop here. Our farmers are facing severe problems for the future, even with drinking water and saving the cultivated crop. It's an impossible situation here. This government from day one has failed to convince the Cauvery Water Management Authority and Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee. They have taken it very lightly...," HD Kumaraswamy said. 

Meanwhile, pro-Kannada outfits and farmer organisations in Karnataka's Mandya have called for a 'Bandh' on Saturday to protest against the order of  CWMA.

The strike came after the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with the order of the CWMA.

Speaking on the Cauvery water-sharing row, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday said that the state government is there to protect the interest of farmers. 

Speaking to reporters here in Karnataka's Bengaluru, DK Shivakumar said, "We are there to protect the interest of the farmers of Karnataka. We have appealed to the authorities that no one should take the law into their hands. I appeal to them not to organise a 'bandh'...We are there to support the interest of Karnataka..."

Farmers across Karnataka have been protesting since the CWMA order.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Prashant Kumar Mishra while refusing to interfere in the Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu said both CWMA and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) are regularly meeting and monitoring the water requirements every 15 days.

It said the Supreme court was not inclined to interfere with the order passed on this aspect by the authority, since the authority and committee were meeting and monitoring the situation every 15 days.

It declined to entertain an application filed by the Tamil Nadu government to increase its current share of Cauvery water from 5,000 to 7,200 cusecs per day.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)