Cauvery dispute: CM Siddaramaiah meets Union Minister, seeks intervention of PM Modi

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar said that the order of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) will be challenged before the Supreme Court as they were facing acute shortage of water in the state.

New Delhi: Amid the Cauvery dispute between the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Deputy DK Shivakumar along with a bunch of MPs met in New Delhi and sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the matter, sources said on Wednesday. Addressing the reporters after the closed door meeting between the officials, CM Siddaramaiah said the order of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) will be challenged before the Supreme Court and request for a stay on the order of releasing water to Tamil Nadu will be made.

"We competently presented our actual situation before CWMA. There has been the lowest rainfall recorded in August in 123 years which causes increased distress in the state. We have no drinking water, no water for crop protection, no water for industry. So we are in a lot of trouble", he said. Deputy CM DK Shivakumar further said that they've requested a meeting with the Union Government and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi has given them an assurance for a meeting with the Union Jal Shakti Minister today.

He further added that the needs of the farmers will not be ignored. A meeting chaired by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with Union Ministers and All-Party MPs from Karnataka to discuss the Cauvery water-sharing dispute was convened in the national capital today. "We are facing a very distressed situation. We are only able to have one-third of the water. CWMA has ordered us to give 5000 cusecs of water for 15 days, we don't even have water for drinking. We have discussed (this) with all of the Parliament members, who assured us that they are going to support our fight. We are pressing it before the Supreme Court to give us justice. I hope justice will be given to us,” DK Shivakumar said.

The crucial meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Union Ministers Prahlad Joshi, Shobha Karandlaje, Bhagwant Khooba, Narayanaswamy, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Supreme Court lawyers representing Karnataka. (with inputs from agency)