SC to hear plea on Cauvery today

Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the Tamil Nadu’s plea for immediately taking up its petition requesting release of 2 TMC of Cauvery water on daily basis for 24 days by Karnataka.

The apex court adjourned the hearing of the case to Friday. The counsels for Tamil Nadu requested the court to take up hearing of the petition immediately as it is an emergency issue that could affect the Samba crop on lakhs of acres of land in Tamil Nadu.

The court expressed its inability to hear the matter on Thursday and adjourned the hearing to Friday. Tamil Nadu has approached the Supreme Court after Karnataka rejected the CRA orders to release 9,000 cusecs of water on daily basis to Tamil Nadu till October 15.

With Tamil Nadu moving the Supreme Court, Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar and water resources minister Basavaraj Bommai met Fali Nariman, the senior counsel representing Karnataka in the case, to discuss various legal aspects on state’s stand of defying the CRA directive.

Meanwhile, protests continued in Bangalore, Mysore, Mandya and other places in the state against the CRA orders. Bangalore mayor D Venkatesh Murthy, along with BJP corporators of the BBMP, headed to Mandya on Thursday to join the protest being staged by Cauvery Hitharakshana Vedike.

Addressing the protesters, Venkatesh Murthy accused the union government of favouring Tamil Nadu while ignoring the agriculture and drinking water needs of people of Karnataka. “People of Bangalore and other towns will have no water to drink if Karnataka obeys CRA order to release water to Tamil Nadu,” he said.

The protesters expressed the confidence that Karnataka will get justice in Supreme Court as the most parts of the state is reeling under drought and the storage level in state’s reservoirs is low.