New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday decided to review the petition of Karnataka on the Cauvery water sharing dispute on October 12 after the state sought a deferment on the issue. Karnataka has sought a stay on the Cauvery order which directs it to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.
This came even as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs from Karnataka, led by Anant Kumar met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding a withdrawal of his order on water sharing with Tamil Nadu.
The delegation comprising 16 BJP MPs from Karnataka met Singh at his office in New Delhi to inform him that the water level in the state's reservoirs was decreasing while the requirements have gone up.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, party MP Ananth Kumar said, "Karnataka requires 30 tmc ft of drinking water for Bangalore, Mysore and other cities. We require more than 120 tmcft of water for the standing crop and drinking water in Cauvery Basin area." M Venkaiah Naidu, Prahlad Joshi, Basavraj Patil, Prabhakar Kore, B Y Raghvendra, and G S Basavaraj were among the MPs who met the PM.
The Prime Minister on Monday also discussed the issue with Congress leaders from Karnataka. According to reports, the Congress leaders from the state apprised the Prime Minister about the “grim” situation in Karnataka. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister of State for Railways KH Munniyappa along with Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal met the Prime Minister at his South Block office for an hour.
"We requested him to resolve the problem at the earliest...based on the report of the expert committee...He has to take a considered decision...The situation is very grim. That is why we have asked the Prime Minister to resolve the situation," Kharge told reporters after the meeting. He said the party leaders also explained to Singh the drinking water situation, particularly in Bangalore, Mandya, Hassan and Mysore as well as the standing crops which are facing water scarcity.
Asked about the interests of Tamil Nadu being taken into account, he said the Prime Minister will look into the interests of "everybody." "Rainy season is over in Cauvery basin in Karnataka. Monsoon will begin in Tamil Nadu. The priority has to be drinking water, whichever is the state. The Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CMC) has to place the factual situation. Based on that the Prime Minister will take a decision," Muniyappa said.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar also met Foreign Minister SM Krishna requesting him to ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to change his order on sharing the Cauvery water with Tamil Nadu.
Intense protests over release of water to Tamil Nadu have continued to sweep Cauvery river basin areas for over eight days. The agitators have been on hunger-strike in Mandya, the Cauvery heartland, and earlier staged a rasta-roko at Maddur-Gejjalagere, disrupting traffic on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. Processions were taken out in Mysore as well. Agitated farmers even demonstrated at several places in Mandya and Mysore districts, raising slogans against the Central and Tamil Nadu governments.
(With Additional Inputs from PTI)
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