Tamil Nadu asks SC to direct Karnataka to release its share of Cauvery water

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday approached the Supreme Court seeking directions to neighbouring Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water from the river Cauvery for 15 days from the Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagara reservoirs, The Hindu reported.

The Tamil Nadu government contended that the release of 4.5 thousand million cubic feet of water, which corresponds to 3,500 cusecs a day for 15 days by August 12, was in accordance with the July 30 decision of the Cauvery Water Management Authority.

An official release said that Karnataka has “failed” to give Tamil Nadu its due share of water, PTI reported.

Chief Minister Vijay directed the state to move the Supreme Court on the advice of senior advocates and secure a “due order”, the release said.

This comes two days after Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the water situation had “slightly improved”, The Hindu reported. He appealed to Kannada organisations to call off their proposed state-wide strike on August 13 opposing the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

The Tamil Nadu government said that as of August 3, the combined storage in Karnataka’s four major Cauvery reservoirs – Krishna Raja Sagara, Kabini, Harangi and Hemavathy – was 77.5 thousand million cubic feet, the news agency reported. This indicates that the state was in a position...

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