Bengaluru: Karnataka and Tamil Nadu filed petitions before the Supreme Court on Monday explaining their stands on Cauvery water, setting the stage for another round of legal battle. Karnataka sought permission to defer the implementation of the apex court's September 20 order that said 6,000 cusecs of water must be released to Tamil Nadu every day. Karnataka said the amount of water not released yet must be treated as “arrears,” and it would clear the backlog by January 2017. It also urged the court to defer issuing directives on any further release of water.
Water resources minister M B Patil said that Karnataka's appeal was to not set fresh deadlines or tight schedules on the issue of release of water. The petition was based on the distress drinking water situation in the state. Within hours of Karnataka filing the application, Tamil Nadu sent in a plea to the court, saying it shouldn't entertain the neighbour's appeal.
Patil and chief secretary Aravind Jadhav held discussions with the state's legal team headed by Fali S Nariman in New Delhi to formulate Karnataka's legal strategy to avert contempt of court proceedings in light of the resolution adopted by the state legislature. The resolution said water levels in four Cauvery reservoirs were very low and its use must be restricted.
Lawmakers in Karnataka have unanimously passed a resolution in the state legislature seeking to save the Cauvery river water for drinking purposes. The resolution implies that the state government is not in a position to comply with Supreme Court's order to release 6,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu as directed by the apex court.
In a joint resolution moved in both the Houses of the state legislature, the ruling party along with the opposition, resolved to store the remaining water in the four reservoirs across the river basin to meet the drinking water needs of the people in the area.
