Armed with consensus from major parties in the State, the Karnataka Cabinet on Wednesday decided not to implement the Supreme Court’s directive to release Cauvery water till September 23, when a special session of the legislature will be convened to take a call on the issue.
The decision, which sets the stage for a confrontation with the court, was taken by the Cabinet after an all-party meeting advised the government not to release water to Tamil Nadu because it might result in drinking water shortage. The court on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs a day to Tamil Nadu from September 21 to 27.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who chaired the all-party meeting and the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, said: “Following the advice by the all-party meeting, the Cabinet has resolved to defer the water release till September 23.”
While the principal Opposition BJP abstained from the all-party meeting as it said “it had lost faith in the State government,” party State president B.S. Yeddyurappa welcomed the Cabinet’s decision.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reiterated that it was an “unimplementable” order. It is learnt that the special legislature session would discuss the court directive and adopt a resolution directing the executive not to release Cauvery water.
This, according to legal experts, was seen as the “most viable option” as the government could then plead before the court that it could not implement its order as there was a contrarian directive from the legislature.
Congress MPs, speaking at the all-party meeting, said the State’s water storage from all the four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin stood at a mere 28 tmcft and the drinking water requirement itself would be 27 tmcft till May 2017. In this backdrop, as expressed before the Supreme Court, the State is not in a position to release water for farming in Tamil Nadu, they said.
It is believed that the option of calling a legislature session to adopt a resolution was suggested by the State’s legal team. Earlier in the day, at a meeting of the Cabinet, the pros and cons of “defying” the court’s order was discussed in detail.
It is also believed that Mr. Siddaramaiah was keen to have the support of all parties before proceeding further. In fact, ahead of the all-party meeting, he had even gone to meet his bete noire, the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, at the latter’s residence, the first such meeting in a decade.
Others who attended the all-party meeting included senior Congress leaders M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily and Oscar Fernandes, and JD(S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy.
The decision, which sets the stage for a confrontation with the court, was taken by the Cabinet after an all-party meeting advised the government not to release water to Tamil Nadu because it might result in drinking water shortage. The court on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs a day to Tamil Nadu from September 21 to 27.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who chaired the all-party meeting and the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, said: “Following the advice by the all-party meeting, the Cabinet has resolved to defer the water release till September 23.”
While the principal Opposition BJP abstained from the all-party meeting as it said “it had lost faith in the State government,” party State president B.S. Yeddyurappa welcomed the Cabinet’s decision.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reiterated that it was an “unimplementable” order. It is learnt that the special legislature session would discuss the court directive and adopt a resolution directing the executive not to release Cauvery water.
This, according to legal experts, was seen as the “most viable option” as the government could then plead before the court that it could not implement its order as there was a contrarian directive from the legislature.
Congress MPs, speaking at the all-party meeting, said the State’s water storage from all the four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin stood at a mere 28 tmcft and the drinking water requirement itself would be 27 tmcft till May 2017. In this backdrop, as expressed before the Supreme Court, the State is not in a position to release water for farming in Tamil Nadu, they said.
It is believed that the option of calling a legislature session to adopt a resolution was suggested by the State’s legal team. Earlier in the day, at a meeting of the Cabinet, the pros and cons of “defying” the court’s order was discussed in detail.
It is also believed that Mr. Siddaramaiah was keen to have the support of all parties before proceeding further. In fact, ahead of the all-party meeting, he had even gone to meet his bete noire, the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, at the latter’s residence, the first such meeting in a decade.
Others who attended the all-party meeting included senior Congress leaders M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily and Oscar Fernandes, and JD(S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy.