Close on the heels of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) recommending that Karnataka release 2,600 cusecs of Cauvery waters a day for 15 days from November 1, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who holds Water Resources portfolio, on Monday asserted that the State did not have any water to release for Tamil Nadu.
“The inflow into Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) is nil. We do not have enough water to release to Tamil Nadu. We do not have the strength to release the water,” Mr. Shivakumar said.
“The natural release from KRS and Kabini reservoirs is 815 cusecs a day. There is just about 51 tmcft of water in the Cauvery basin [reservoirs],” the Deputy Chief Minister told presspersons here.
He said that the water in the reservoirs had to be conserved for drinking water purpose. “Let us pray to God. We are hoping for rainfall so that the water can flow. At present, we do not have water,” he remarked.
Earlier, Karnataka submitted to the CWRC that in the light of nil inflow into the four reservoirs in its Cauvery basin, it would not be able to release any water from its reservoirs so as to reach the Biligundlu measuring gauge, except the water contributed from the uncontrolled catchment areas. While Tamil Nadu sought 13,000 cusecs for 15 days that would work out to be 16.90 tmcft, the CWRC recommended the flow at a rate of 2,600 cusecs a day that would be realised at Biligundlu.
