No visible flow of Karnataka water into Tamil Nadu

The arrival of water has been steadily declining and only 484 cusecs was trickling into the reservoir in the last couple of days. The present low level of inflow has caused worry among the water managers at the dam and also in the delta region, who have been pushed to fetch water through tankers to save the standing samba. As the storage level has not increased, Public Works Department officials at Biligundlu and Mettur say that they could not confirm whether Karnataka is releasing the quantum ordered by the Supreme Court. 

According to PWD officials, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu after Cauvery Technical Committee carried out an on the spot assessment in both the states and submitted its report. The Karnataka government also responded saying that it would abide by the court direction and release 2,000 cusecs to the neighbouring state. 

The officials added that though Karnataka promised to release water, there was no increase in the inflow into the Mettur dam. Seeking anonymity, a PWD engineer at Biligundlu told DTNext that they could not observe any increase in the flow after the court direction. “The inflow did not raise and it is around 600 cusecs at the zero point,” he said. 

When asked whether they received any communication from the Karnataka irrigation officials about the release, the engineer replied in the negative. A PWD official said that the inflow started dwindling in the past two weeks. “If Karnataka had opened its dams, then it would have reflected at Mettur. In fact, even at the zero point there was no change in the situation,” the engineer said.

A delegation of People’s Welfare Front (PWF) leaders, headed by CPI national secretary and Rajya Sabha MP D Raja met President Pranab Mukherjee and sought his intervention in the setting up of Cauvery Management Board on Friday. The leaders lashed out at the “defiant” attitude of Karnataka in complying with the Supreme Court orders over release of water from Cauvery. “Cauvery does not belong to any particular state. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have same rights over the river. We requested the President to safeguard the rights of Tamil Nadu and to speed up the Constitution of Cauvery Management Board,” Raja told reporters. MDMK leader Vaiko, who was part of the delegation, said that the alleged denial of water has resulted in a loss of Rs 8,000 crore to Tamil Nadu this year. “We fear that our rice bowl is becoming a begging bowl,” he said.