Karnataka relieved over 'favourable' Cauvery verdict

Karnataka on Friday heaved a sigh of relief after the Supreme Court gave a verdict in its favour in a dispute over the sharing of the Cauvery river water with neighbouring Tamil Nadu, an official said.

"Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah) expressed relief that the state got a favourable verdict in the dispute and its stand was partially accepted by the apex court by increasing its share of water, including higher allocation to Bengaluru for drinking purpose," the official told IANS here.

Expressing happiness over the verdict, Siddaramaiah told reporters that he would respond to the judgment of the top court after consulting lawyers and studying the final order.

The Chief Minister was busy with the presentation of the state budget for fiscal 2018-19.

"I am relieved and happy that we got some justice from the Supreme Court. I will come back to you after consulting our legal team and studying the judgment as I have been busy since morning preparing to present the state budget," Siddaramaiah told the media.

Delivering its final verdict on the civil appeals filed by the riparian states (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala) against the decision of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal in 2007, the apex court's three-judge bench increased Karnataka's share by 14.75 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet), including 4.75 tmcft more water to Bengaluru.

The Karnataka capital is situated 120 km away from the river in Mandya district.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Amitava Roy and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, had proportionately reduced Tamil Nadu's share to 177.25 tmcft from 192 tmcft, saying the Tribunal had not taken into account the ground water available there in the river basin.

Karnataka Farmers' Association chief G. Made Gowda appealed to the people in the old Mysuru region to maintain peace and avoid any untoward incident, as the verdict was partially favourable to the state.

"We will decide our next course of action after studying the court's judgment. We are waiting for a copy of its operative portion to go through it and ascertain how beneficial it is to us, especially farmers and people in the region," Gowda told reporters at Mandya, about 100 km from here.

In a related development, security has been stepped up in the region, including Bengaluru, Mandya, Mysuru and Chamarajanagar to maintain law and order in view of the verdict.

"We have deployed additional forces around the reservoirs across the river basin in Mandya and Mysuru districts to ensure their safety and prevent any harm to the dams from anyone," state Additional Director-General of Police Kamal Pant told reporters here.

--IANS

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