Bengaluru, Sep 9 (IANS): Karnataka will approach the Supreme Court challenging the orders issued by the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) and the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) directing the state to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water daily to Tamil Nadu, Water Resources Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, Cheluvarayaswamy said the issue had been discussed at length with Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and that preparations were underway to file a petition before the Supreme Court on Thursday after consulting the team of legal experts.
He said the Karnataka government had also directed officials to file a review petition before the CWRC against its order.
“The CWMA has also upheld the order of the CWRC. However, the situation in our reservoirs is extremely difficult and we are facing a situation where there is hardly enough water to release. At present, priority has to be given to drinking water, while there is also a need to fill up dried lakes and tanks,” he added.
The Minister expressed concern over the prevailing water situation and said conditions could improve only if Karnataka received good rainfall within a week of the Gowri-Ganesha festival.
“We (Karnataka) will not support the CWRC order under any circumstances. Earlier, 100 TMC of water had been released, while this year we have released only 30 TMC. Despite this, the Tamil Nadu government has continued to put pressure on Karnataka,” Cheluvarayaswamy said.
He also added that the Karnataka government would seriously consider appointing a Special Advocate to represent the state in Supreme Court in the Cauvery matter, as suggested by former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
The Karnataka government would also discuss the proposal with Bommai, he added.
Reacting to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on the residences of Minister Satish Jarkiholi and his aides, Cheluvarayaswamy accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of politically targeting opposition leaders through central investigative agencies.
“Let them do whatever they want according to the law. But targeting Opposition leaders through such raids has become the BJP’s practice,” he alleged.
The Minister questioned why similar ED raids were not being conducted against Ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and other states where the BJP or its allies are in power.
He accused the Centre of adopting a discriminatory approach in the use of central investigative agencies and questioned the rationale behind selectively targeting leaders of opposition parties.
Cheluvarayaswamy’s remarks came amid the ongoing political controversy surrounding the ED searches linked to the alleged financial and foreign investment-related irregularities involving Satish Jarkiholi and his aides.
