Mandya (Karnataka), Aug 15 (PTI) Karnataka Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy on Saturday dismissed allegations that the state government had released Cauvery water from the Krishnaraja Sagar Dam to Tamil Nadu.
He said no water had been released to Tamil Nadu from KRS in June or July.
Responding to allegations by some farmer leaders and BJP leaders, the minister said, “No water has been released from the KRS Dam for Tamil Nadu. We are supposed to release water to Tamil Nadu from June itself. But we did not release water in June or July.” He explained that when there was an order to release 3,500 cusecs, the actual outflow was higher.
“Now, the Cauvery Water Management Authority has directed us to release 12,000 cusecs. Around 10,000 cusecs is being released from Kabini. Seepage water is also reaching Tamil Nadu,” the Water Resource Minister said.
BJP leaders and Kannada outfits on Saturday alleged that water had been released from the KRS reservoir to Tamil Nadu around midnight.
Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj condemned the alleged release and said his organisation, Kannada Chalavali Vatal Paksha, would lay siege to the KRS Dam within the next two days.
The alleged release follows the Cauvery Water Management Authority’s direction to Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, according to BJP Mandya unit spokesperson Manjunath.
The KRS Dam is located in Mandya district.
“The water was released from KRS around midnight. The flow in the Cauvery river has increased following the release,” Manjunath told PTI.
Manjunath alleged that the release was taking place despite the state government’s earlier position that it would not release water to Tamil Nadu, citing concerns over availability for farmers and drinking-water requirements.
He shared a video purportedly showing water being released from the dam.
Echoing the allegation, Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj claimed that the government had been secretly releasing water.
“There is nothing new about it. They (the government) are releasing water compulsorily. They released it earlier, saying that it was released from Kabini. They very cleverly released it from the beginning,” Nagaraj said.
He alleged that there was an understanding between Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and his Tamil Nadu counterpart Joseph C Vijay.
Nagaraj alleged that whenever he sought details of water inflow and outflow, the government refused to share them, saying the figures were highly technical.
“This is not right. There should now be a high-level investigation into this,” Nagaraj said.
The activist alleged that those protesting against the release were being suppressed.
“Within two days, we will lay siege to the Krishnaraja Sagar Dam. We will hold a massive procession from Bengaluru,” said Nagaraj, a former MLA.
The Cauvery Water Management Authority had on August 12 directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu daily for 15 days.
The state government had maintained that it would explore ways to challenge the order in the Supreme Court. PTI GMS SSK
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