The water stoppage to Tamil Nadu came after Karnataka said it will file a review petition on Tuesday before Cauvery River Authority headed by the Prime Minister who made known his position to Congress and BJP delegations which met him separately seeking review of CRA's September 19 directive.
The mind-boggling figure is spent in the legal battle seeking rights over the river before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in New Delhi.
Karnataka on Thursday night began releasing Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu from the Krishna Raja Sagar Reservoir as per a Supreme Court directive.
Even as Karnataka continues to release water to Tamil Nadu as per the directive of the Cauvery River Waters Authority, all the members of Legislative Assembly from the Janata Dal-Secular have tendered their resignations against this move by the Karnataka government.
Farmers organisations and pro-Kannada organisations staged protests in Mysuru, Mandya, Bengaluru and other parts expressing their anger and urging the state government not to release water to Tamil Nadu.
Protests rocked the Cauvery river basin district of Karnataka for the second day on Monday over release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu with police taking about 100 people into custody after they squatted on tracks and detained the Mysore-Shirdi express at Gejjalagere village.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in Bangalore that the state was not in a position to release water as its people faced a "severe distress" situation
The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Prime Minister's Office for the way it was dealing with the Cauvery water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The Centre's lawyer told the court that he needed time to file a proper reply on this issue and the date for convening the Cauvery River Authority, headed by the prime minister, has not been fixed.
Karnataka has filed a review petition before the highest court against the order of the Cauvery River Water Authority headed by the prime minister, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Karnataka, which is facing a political tug-of-war between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress-Janata Dal-Secular over government formation, had earlier made a failed bid to temporarily stall the finalisation of draft Cauvery management scheme.
Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Monday met Union Minister S M Krishna in New Delhi amid demands by Karnataka leaders for a review of Cauvery River Authority's decision asking the state to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.
"Why can't the two Chief Ministers sit together? Give it a try, it is not impossible," a bench of justices D K Jain and Madan B Lokur said.
Karnataka is making a last ditch attempt in this regard after Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had refused to review Karnataka's plea of the CRA.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has asserted that alliances are formed only at the time of elections and declined to categorically say if his party would align with the BJP for the 2026 Assembly polls. Palaniswami met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday and brought to his attention several issues faced by Tamil Nadu, including the need for funds release, the implementation of the Godavari-Cauvery river linking plan, and a probe into the "TASMAC scam." He said that while the party would decide on an alliance at the time of the election, he did not rule out a tie-up with the BJP.
The Supreme Court today pulled up the Karnataka government for failing to comply with the prime minister-headed Cauvery River Authority's (CRA) directive to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.
Former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday launched an attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for asking Karnataka to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu daily "without assessment of ground reality" on water storage levels in this state.
Tensions flared up in Karnataka as Tamil Nadu announced that it would go ahead with its drinking water project at Hognekal Falls. Karnataka claims Tamil Nadu does not have clearance from the Centre to go ahead with the project, adding that as the verdict of the water dispute tribunal was under appeal in the Supreme Court, no work could be carried out on the project.
He expressed hope there would be smooth sharing of Cauvery river water with Tamil Nadu in view of prospects of a good monsoon.
The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Prime Minister's Office officials for not holding a meeting of Cauvery River Authority, headed by the Prime Minister, to resolve the water-sharing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The verdict brings an end to the 16-year-old dispute but fears of violence loom large.
The much awaited meeting between the chief ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the Cauvery river water distribution has failed.
Amid criticism and protests against the government over allegations that Cauvery water was being released from Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) dam to Tamil Nadu, he clarified that the discharge was meant for Bengaluru, and not for the neighbouring state.
Complying with a Supreme Court directive, Karnataka on Sunday began the release of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu, triggering widespread protests across its district and disrupting vehicular movement. Irrigation authorities told PTI that about 5000 cusecs of water was being released from Krishnarajasagar Dam and Kabini Reservoir since Saturday night
Today, with the Lok Sabha polls only months away, any inter-state dispute over the Cauvery water dispute has the potential to take more political turns than otherwise, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The authorities have issued flood alert to the people living in the low lying areas and also along river banks in as many as nine districts.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to give an urgent hearing to a plea of the Tamil Nadu government for setting up the Cauvery management board for implementation of the Cauvery water disputes tribunal award, saying there is "no urgency" for it.
The protests, which erupted after the Supreme Court refused to interfere with orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee directing the state to release 5,000 cusecs of water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu, have intensified.
'The Cauvery is not dependable as Karnataka will never consider our needs.'
Farmers from Karnataka have decided to sit on an indefinite hunger strike at the Krishna Raja Sagar dam near Mysore from Thursday to protest the release of Cauvery River's water to Tamil Nadu. The Union government has assured them that an expert team will be sent to both states to study the issue.
The Tamil Nadu government on Wednsday moved the Supreme Court -- seeking launch of contempt of court proceeding against Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and others -- for allegedly defying the court's order to supply 9,000 cusecs of water from Cauvery River to the state. In its application filed through counsel Umapathi Ganesh, Tamil Nadu contended that Karnataka has deliberately violated the apex court's directive.
The Karntaka government on Saturday decided to press Prime Minister Manmohan Singh again -- to stay the September 19 order of the Cauvery River Authority -- directing the state to release 9,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu from September 20 to October 15.
The Cauvery Water Users Association, Bangalore, had filed the writ petition seeking a quash of the February 5, award made by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
'The Cauvery river has become excessively politicised by all political parties.' 'They see a vote bank in an emotive issue of this kind.'
A three-judge bench headed by Justice BR Gavai sought a report from the Cauvery Water Management Authority on the amount of water released by Karnataka, after additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati informed the court that a meeting of the authority is scheduled for Monday.
'Sharing of water from a river which flows through several states is a crucial challenge which comes in the way of maintaining the spirit of good neighbourly relations.'
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed tohear on Monday the Karnataka's plea to stay its September 28 order to the state to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu from the Cauvery river basin.
The two bandhs reflect the divide among the farmers and pro-Kannada organisations, and has also now led to a confusion about who is supporting the bandh on which day, and whether services will be available on Tuesday.
The Tamil Nadu government welcomed the decision, hailing it as a 'grand victory for the 'Amma (Jayalalithaa) government' and the state's farmers'.
Normal life in Karnataka is likely to be affected on Saturday as pro-Kannada outfits have called for a statewide dawn-to-dusk bandh to protest Tamil Nadu's opposition to Mekedatu drinking water project across the inter-state river Cauvery.
The petition stated that the proposed project would affect the flow of the river Cauvery considerably and will severely affect the irrigation in Cauvery basin of Tamil Nadu.
