Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay moves a resolution in the Assembly against the Karnataka government’s Mekedatu dam proposal
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Trichy, Tamil Nadu:

DMK Rajya Sabha member Tiruchi Siva on Sunday said that the Tamil Nadu government is seeking the Central government’s support to settle the ongoing Cauvery dispute with Karnataka amicably.

“As per the Supreme Court order and as per the (Cauvery) tribunal award Tamil Nadu government is trying all its efforts through legal process and in all possible manners seeking the support of the Union government and its Jal Shakti Minister as well as coordinating through all the possible sources to settle this issue amicably. We want only water for the farmers in Tamil Nadu not any dispute with any other state,” Mr Siva told ANI.

The Cauvery dispute between the two states intensified recently after farmers’ organisations in Karnataka started protesting the release of water to Tamil Nadu saying that there is not enough water in the state’s reservoirs due to insufficient rainfall in the Cauvery basin this year. 

Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) directed Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs of water to its neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, for 15 days, effective from September 13. Though the Karnataka government challenged the direction of the Supreme Court it refused to intervene in the CWMA’s decision. 

“The Supreme Court has reemphasized that it cannot intervene in the award of the tribunal and Tamil Nadu should be given its due water from Cauvery,” Mr Siva said.

“Though their argument that there is a lack of water in Cauvery, at the same time riparian state Tamil Nadu is suffering a lot (due to decreased Cauvery water release),” Mr Siva added. 

He said that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is handling the Cauvery issue “very diplomatically” and hoped that the state will get its due share of water soon.  

While the farmers in Karnataka’s Mandya on Sunday continued protesting to stop water from being released from Karnataka dams to Tamil Nadu, a group of farmers in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, staged a protest demanding the release of the water. 

Farmers across Karnataka have been protesting since the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) ordered the state to release 5,000 cusecs of water to its neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, for 15 days, effective from September 13.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Prashant Kumar Mishra on Thursday while refusing to interfere in the Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu said both CWMA and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) are regularly meeting and monitoring the water requirements every 15 days.

The court declined to entertain an application filed by the Tamil Nadu government to increase its current share of Cauvery water from 5,000 to 7,200 cusecs per day.

Tamil Nadu has sought fresh directions for the release of Cauvery River water from Karnataka, claiming that the neighbouring State had changed its stand, and had released a reduced quantum of water as against what was agreed upon earlier.  

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)