Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sep 21: In an effort to discuss the Cauvery water issue, a delegation of Karnataka ministers led by the state’s Chief Minister Siddaramaiah met with Gajendra Singh Shekawat, Jal Shakti Minister on Thursday.
The visiting delegation and the Union minister had extensive conversations about the Cauvery issue during the meeting that took place in New Delhi on Thursday, they stated.
The Cauvery Water Management Authority’s order to deliver 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days until September 26 is the subject of a request for a stay from the Karnataka government in the meantime.
There were also special representatives for the Karnataka government in New Delhi, T B Jayachandra and Prakash Hukkerian, as well as the Deputy Chief Minister, D K Shiva Kumar, the Agriculture Minister, N Cheluvaraya Swamy and others.
Earlier on Wednesday, in order to resolve the Cauvery water-sharing dispute, Siddaramaiah, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, hosted a meeting with Union Ministers and All-Party MPs from Karnataka in the nation’s capital.
CM Siddaramaiah declared after the critical meeting, “We seek a stay on the CWMA order in the Supreme Court. We will appeal to the Supreme Court for an injunction against the CWMA order to release water to Tamil Nadu. We competently presented our actual situation before CWMA. There has been the lowest rainfall recorded in August in 123 years which causes increased distress in the state. We have no drinking water, no water for crop protection, no water for industry. So we are in a lot of trouble.”
Furthermore, according to Siddaramaiah, the Prime Minister should step in since he has the authority to call the people of both states to an assembly.
“PM has the jurisdiction to summon the people of both the states. So we have appealed to the Prime Minister for his intervention. We have already identified 195 talukas in the state as drought-prone. There has been the lowest rainfall recorded in August in 123 years which causes increased distress in the state,” Siddaramaiah said.
DK Shivakumar, the Deputy Chief Minister, asserted that Karnataka is now experiencing a drinking water shortage after CWMA’s order.
“We are facing a very distressed situation. We are only able to have one-third of the water. CWMA has ordered us to give 5000 cusecs of water for 15 days, we don’t even have water for drinking. We have discussed (this) with all of the Parliament members, who assured us that they are going to support our fight. We are pressing it before the Supreme Court to give us justice. I hope justice will be given to us,” DK Shivakumar said.
HD Deve Gowda, a former Prime Minister, stated on Monday that the “quarrel” between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will not be resolved “legally” and that a resolution will only be reached if both parties sit together.