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Sadananda Gowda vows to protect Karnataka farmers’ interests

Lashing out at the Tamil Nadu government for frequently raking up the Cauvery issue, Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Saturday promised to protect the interests of Karnataka farmers in the Cauvery basin.

Speaking to reporters at his home office ‘Krishna’ here, Mr. Gowda accused the Tamil Nadu government of raising the water-sharing dispute every now and then for political gains.

“The government is committed to protecting the interests of Karnataka farmers, and the question of releasing water to Tamil Nadu does not arise.” The Tamil Nadu government has approached the Supreme Court seeking urgent directions to restrain Karnataka from taking up summer irrigation and prevent consequent depletion of storage in Karnataka reservoirs, in contravention of the final order passed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in February 2007.

The application stated that on March 15, storage in the four reservoirs had depleted and only about 20 to 30 tmcft of water would remain by May-end, as against the full storage of 114.5 tmcft.

Mr. Gowda said that he had discussions with Minister for Water Resources Basavaraj Bommai and officials of the Law Department on Tamil Nadu moving the Supreme Court. “We will take the matter seriously and deal with it legally.”

Congress’s demand

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara demanded that the government immediately convene an all-party meeting to discuss the matter and requested that the State not release water to Tamil Nadu.

Speaking to reporters after felicitating K. Rahman Khan, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, who has been elected unopposed to the Upper House of Parliament, Dr. Parameshwara said that the government should not release water to Tamil Nadu when a large number of taluks in the State were reeling under drought.