The protest against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu will continue till water release is stopped, the Jala Samrakshana Samiti announced on Monday as the members observed a silent protest on Gandhi Jayanthi day.
The members urged the government to convene a special session of the legislature to pass a resolution that water will not be released till the distress formula for water sharing is passed.
The samiti members staged the silent protest for one hour against the government’s decision. It was also decided that the samiti would continue to protest with one organisation/association sitting on dharna each day. The samiti has urged the State government to start work on Mekedatu drinking project.
Samiti convener Kurubur Shanthkumar said that the State government was ignoring the voice of Kannadigas, and that the Chief Minister has not taken the tough decision of stopping the release of water.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday suggested that Karnataka should evolve a distress sharing formula in consultation with legal experts, activists, and the Opposition parties in a bid to find a permanent solution to the ongoing inter-State row over sharing of Cauvery water and submit it before the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Supreme Court.
On inflows
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s statement that the inflows into reservoirs in Cauvery basin have increased to the level of 15,000 cusecs bringing some relief to the State have triggered a controversy with the BJP accusing him of trying to “mislead” people on the inflow.
Mr. Bommai said that the officials concerned had made it clear to him that only 2,000 cusecs of water a day were being received by the reservoirs in Cauvery basin.
