Bengaluru: With over 125 taluks in the state reeling under severe drought, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Tuesday dealt Karnataka another blow, upholding the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s (CWRC) direction to release 6,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days. Karnataka had appealed against the order at the CWMA meeting in Delhi, but it was rejected.Reacting sharply, water resources minister N Chaluvarayaswamy termed the CWRC order “absurd” and said the govt was seriously considering moving the Supreme Court against it. “Our officials strongly argued ground realities at the CWRC meeting. Tamil Nadu had sought 17,000 cusecs, but inflows into the Cauvery basin have declined considerably over the past week. In such a distress situation, even releasing 6,000 cusecs is impossible for us. We are making continuous efforts to ensure that no water is released,” Chaluvarayaswamy said after the CWMA meeting.The minister also took a swipe at authorities in Delhi for deciding on the issue without grasping ground realities. “The constitution and administration benches sitting in Delhi do not understand ground realities. There have been instances in the past when similar orders were issued without understanding the actual situation,” he added.He said the govt did not expect much relief from the CWMA meeting and would take a final call after consulting chief minister D K Shivakumar. “The govt is seriously considering filing a petition in the Supreme Court tomorrow itself,” he added.On reservoir levels, Chaluvarayaswamy said nearly half the available water was being reserved exclusively for drinking purposes. Water had been supplied to farmers through the Bhadra and Upper Krishna Project as required, while releases through the river were ensuring there was no drinking water shortage in the Chitradurga region. He added that reservoir water was being managed in a controlled manner to fill lakes and ponds and prevent shortages for people and livestock.
