The Cauvery Rights Retrieval Committee has called upon the State government to take steps to get the State’s share of the Cauvery water, which has been “appropriated by the Karnataka government”, released.
Participating in a demonstration organised by the committee here on Tuesday, its members alleged that Karnataka usurped more than its share of the Cauvery water by diverting it to lakes and ponds before it reached the major reservoirs in that State. They condemned the Tamil Nadu government for its “failure” to ensure the realisation of Cauvery water at Mettur as per the Supreme Court order.
They urged the State government to inspect the lakes and ponds in the Cauvery Basin in Karnataka and not blindly rely on the “storage data” furnished by that State.
Every time a crisis cropped up, Karnataka released the storage data of its major reservoirs — the Krishnarajasagar, the Kabini, the Herangi, and the Hemavati — only to paint a picture of “low” combined storage and pleading that it was impossible to release water.
The demonstrators, led by CRRC coordinator P. Maniarasan, urged the State government to form a committee to inspect the lakes and ponds in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka to ascertain the quantum of water impounded there. By this, Tamil Nadu could exert pressure on the Centre to get the quantum of water allocated to Tamil Nadu as per the Supreme Court order, the protesters added.
