A day after the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) once again recommending release of 3,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water by Karnataka to neighbouring Tamil Nadu up to October 31, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said Karnataka will appeal against the direction of CWRC once again.
The matter of release of water is expected to soon come up before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), which will issue an order based on the recommendation of the CWRC, its assisting body.
“We have an inflow of 8,000-9,000 cusecs (in State’s reservoirs), but we will protect the interests of farmers. We will appeal against it (CWRC recommendation). We find it very difficult, as still there are no rains,” Mr Shivakumar, who holds the Water Resources portfolio, said on October 12.
Speaking to reporters at the party office in Bengaluru, he said, “There has been one or two spells of small amounts of rain in Bengaluru, but it has not reached Biligundlu yet.”
When asked about load shedding resulting in power cuts in many parts of the State and the trouble faced by farmers unable to operate their pump sets, the Deputy CM said that there is a deficit of power due to drought situation in many parts of Karnataka. Energy Minister K.J. George has met Union Power Minister (R.K. Singh) with a request for additional power from the Central grid.
“When I was the power minister (in the previous Congress government), I added more than 12,000 MW of power, but when the BJP regime was there, they did not plan to add any power. Normally, there will be 10-15% growth every year. They just sold the power, that’s all. Now there is drought. Almost 200 taluks are in drought, and people are finding it very difficult,” the Dy CM said.
Noting that a lot of water is needed to generate power, and ‘also the coal issue is there’, Mr Shivakumar said, “Nevertheless, we want to help farmers. Our Energy Minister has met the Union Power Minister, and has sought for power from the Central grid. Due to drought, there is a deficit of power, but we are trying to manage it. Our Minister is on the job. Let’s all pray for rains,” the Deputy CM said.
