Citing shortage of water in the state's four reservoirs, the Karnataka government on Saturday rejected Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami's appeal to immediately release seven tmc ft of Cauvery water.
Earlier in the day, Palaniswami had dashed off a letter to Siddaramaiah seeking release of Cauvery water. Palaniswami had stated that Tamil Nadu had received only 111.64 tmc ft of water as on January 9, 2018 as against its entitlement of 179.87 tmc ft. The farmers of Tamil Nadu were facing a distress situation as Karnataka had not released the remaining 68.22 tmc ft. Palaniswami said the storage level in Tamil Nadu's Mettur dam was 21.27 tmc ft as on January 12 and this was inadequate to meet the irrigation needs of the standing crops and drinking water needs during the summer months.
In the letter, Palaniswami added: "The crop season in Karnataka is already over and there is a gross storage of 49.82 tmc ft in the state's four major reservoirs in the Cauvery river basin. After reserving the minimum needs of drinking water supply and perennial crops, Karnataka can release at least 15 tmc ft of water that is crucial for the standing crops in the Cauvery delta." He sought the immediate release of 7 tmc ft and the remaining within a fortnight.