Talks between the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on Cauvery water sharing row, held at the suggestion of the Supreme Court, failed to break ice with both sides sticking to their known hard positions. After more than an hour-long meeting, Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa said she had demanded a “bare minimum” requirement of 30 tmcft of water but Karnataka flatly refused, saying it could not release even a single drop of water.
Expressing the state’s inability, Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar said there was distress in the state and it was not in a position to release water to Tamil Nadu. The meet came as a follow-up to the apex court’s suggestion to both CMs to meet and arrive at an amicable solution to the “sensitive” water dispute, dogging both the states for decades.
This was the second time in 15 years that chief ministers of both the states had bilateral talks on the water row after 1997 when M Karunanidhi and J H Patel met in Chennai.
Shettar said Karnataka had only 37 tmcft of water in its reservoir of which 20 tmcft was required for drinking water supply to Bangalore, other cities and some rural areas. The state also explained the severe drought situation faced by it.
Making a strong pitch for release of water, Jayalalithaa said she told her counterpart that if there was no further release from Karnataka, the “samba” crop would wither and die.
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