The meeting of CMs of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with Union Water Resource Minister Uma Bharti would be held tomorrow.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah on Wednesday said that Union Water Resource Minister Uma Bharti has called for a meeting of CMs of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka at 11.30 AM on Thursday in Delhi to discuss the Cauvery issue. With the meeting to be held on Thursday, Karnataka state cabinet which met earlier in the day has decided to defer the release of water till the meeting with Bharti.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit had directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu till September 30, despite a resolution passed by the state legislature last week to use the water only for drinking purpose.
However, in Chennai, DMK President M Karunanidhi is not very happy with the proposed meeting as he is of the opinion that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should chair the proposed meeting of Chief Ministers to break the impasse on water release to Tamil Nadu. He said Bharti had recently aired views "fully supporting" Karnataka over the impasse on release of Cauvery water by that state to Tamil Nadu and doubts would arise about the outcome of the meeting if she chaired the deliberations.
Earlier in the day when Karnataka Parliamentary Affairs and Law Minister TB Jayachandra was asked by PTI if the decision would amount to contempt of court if Karnataka defers releasing water to Tamil Nadu, he said, "At this point of time I do not want to react to it."
Opposition BJP Leader Jagadish Shettar had earlier suggested that the government should honour the September 23 legislature resolution signalling Karnataka's inability to implement the court's earlier direction to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from September 21 till September 27. "Our party has placed our suggestion before the government to honour its decision taken during the special legislature session," he said.
The legislature at its session on September 23 had adopted a unanimous resolution to use the water only to meet drinking water needs and not to provide it for any other purpose. BJP also advised government not to release water, not before the chief ministers' meeting to be chaired by Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati in Delhi on Thursday, Shettar said.
JDS spokesperson YSV Datta said the government should not release water on Wednesday as it would not matter much because the flow of water, anyhow, has increased after a few spells of rainfall in downstream areas of Cauvery basin. He also said the government should not go back on its decision taken in the assembly.
With agency inputs
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