Cauvery water dispute: Siddaramaiah requests PM to call state CMs meeting

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to call a meeting of the state Chief Ministers to resolve the ongoing protest in the state over the Cauvery water dispute.

"Permit me to invite your immediate attention to the stark facts already in the public arena about extreme unrest in the Cauvery basin especially in Bangalore city protesting against the interim order for the daily release of 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water at the inter State border, Biligundulu, which, if continued, would completely deprive the drinking water not only to the residents of Bangalore City but also to the farmers of the Cauvery basin and water for the only crop they grow. However, the present storage in the Mettur reservoir in Tamil Nadu and the North-east rainfall received in Tamil Nadu would be more than sufficient to meet the requirement of water for the Samba rice crop just being or still to be sown by the farmers in Tamil Nadu," Siddaramaiah wrote in his letter.

Pointing out the problems being caused due to the release of Cauvery water, he added that the ongoing protest will cause a severe damage to the state's economy.

"At an all-party meeting held on 6th September, 2016, to elicit the views of political parties the view of the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the State was that the order of the Supreme Court of India ought not to be implemented. However, as constitutional Chief Executive of the State I have taken it upon myself to obey the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court and the waters are being released as per the order which has created more unrest and disquiet in the State. The unrest if continued will not only have a serious impact on the economy of the State particularly the IT economy which brings enormous revenue and foreign exchange to the country but will also impact the livelihood of the common man adversely in the large parts of the State," he said.

Normal life in several parts of Karnataka, including state capital Bengaluru, was affected due to complete shutdown today.

The state witnessed massive rallies and protests against the Supreme Court order of releasing water from Karnataka's reservoirs.

The apex court on Monday directed the Karnataka Government to release Cauvery water for the next 10 days to ameliorate the plight of farmers.

The apex court also directed Tamil Nadu to approach the supervisory committee within three days for the release of Cauvery water as per the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's (CWDT).