Owing to deficient rainfall and low storage levels in reservoirs of the Cauvery basin in Karnataka, the State government has expressed its inability to ensure discharge of water to Tamil Nadu.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra told presspersons here on Tuesday that the State government would inform to the Supreme Court its difficulty to release water to Tamil Nadu by explaining the ground reality and actual storage levels in Cauvery basin reservoirs.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has ordered filing of an interlocutory petition in the Supreme Court seeking release of Cauvery water as per the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, after Karnataka refused to release water.
Following deficient rainfall during the southwest monsoon, Mr. Jayachandra said storage levels in four reservoirs — Harangi, Hemavati, Krishnaraja Sagar, and Kabini — was sufficient only to meet drinking water requirements of the towns in the Cauvery basin. The gross storage capacity in four reservoirs was 114.57 tmcft, while the actual storage was 66.75 as on August 22, below 50 per cent of the storage capacity.
Karnataka has already decided to enforce its strong decision not to release water for water-intensive crops such as paddy and sugarcane owing to poor storage of water in its reservoirs. Mr. Jayachndra said Tamil Nadu must understand the gravity of water crisis in Karnataka. “How can we release water when there is no water in our dams,” he said.
