Karnataka on Friday pleaded its inability in supplying Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu in line with the Supreme Court's directive saying the state itself is facing a shortage of drinking water.
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.
Thousands of police personnel have been deployed across the state to maintain law and order.
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
Jayalalithaa, recuperating at a corporate hospital in Chennai, said she could not attend the meeting as she was hospitalised.
By getting the Tamil Nadu assembly to act on his very imaginative public declaration to keep petro-chemical industries out of the Cauvery delta, which has traditionally been a DMK stronghold, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has not only set the ball rolling for the assembly elections due a year later but also sent out a strong message to the BJP government at the Centre, which took a unilateral decision to exempt petro-complexes from environmental clearance, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
As many as 44 flights to and from the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru were cancelled owing to the Karnataka bandh over the Cauvery water sharing issue with Tamil Nadu, airport authorities said.
Stepping up pressure, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Saturday asked the Centre to notify the final order of the Cauvery tribunal for ensuring release of water by Karnataka to save withering crops in the state during this distress year.
Widespread rains lashed parts of Tamil Nadu on Thursday, prompting authorities to declare a holiday for schools in Chennai and many other districts.
The Supreme Court also asked the supervisory committee to decide on Tamil Nadu's plea in ten days from Monday.
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.
Upping the ante against Karnataka for its refusal to release Cauvery water, Tamil Nadu has decided to file a contempt petition in Supreme Court besides seeking a direction for setting up two regulatory bodies to implement the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal's final award.
In Mandya, the heartland of Cauvery, protesters took out a march with 28 sheep, depicting them as members of parliament, decrying their silence.
It is not possible for Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu 'for now' as the state is facing drought and acute drinking water scarcity, Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said on Sunday.
The Supreme Court on Monday made it clear that it will not interfere with the Cauvery Monitoring Committee's order directing Karnataka to provide Tamil Nadu with 12 Thousand Million Cubic of Cauvery water during December despite both warring states expressing dissatisfaction over the award.
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.
Asked whether Tamil Nadu wanted early notification of the final award, he said that after the stipulated 90 days time, the state would insist on the Tribunal for the speedy implementation of the final award.
Awaiting the outcome of a meeting convened by the Centre, Karnataka Cabinet on Wednesday decided to defer till Thursday a decision on release of 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu as per the Supreme Court direction.
The Karnataka government has convened an all party meeting in Bangalore on Tuesday to finalise its stand on the cauvery river water sharing issue at the upcoming Cauvery River Authority (CRA) meet.
'Ours is an unrecognised body. From politicians to the tribunal, nobody has acknowledged us. Nobody is even willing to talk to us. We have not been invited to any meeting. Even if we come out with a solution, who will implement it,' asks Prof S Janakarajan, the man behind Cauvery Family
Charging Karnataka with "unjustly utilising" Cauvery water for summer irrigation, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday asked Prime Minister Manmhohan Singh to convene a meeting of the Cauvery river authority to discuss the issue.
Meeting for the first in nine years, Cauvery River Authority session on Wednesday is expected to be a stormy affair with Tamil Nadu set to demand more water from Cauvery river to save its standing crops while Karnataka will seek a new policy to share water.
Chairman of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal Justice N P Singh has resigned from his post citing ill health. Sources in the water resources ministry said Justice Singh, 80, had sent his resignation papers earlier this week.
In its plea, Karnataka had said its reservoirs are dry and it can only release water to Tamil Nadu by the end of the year.
Considering that the Supreme Court has now included two, rather three, new variable to the tribunal's findings, it could imply that whenever the current order comes in for review, the two states could raise specific issues flowing from them, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Farmers and pro-Kannada outfit activists protested in various parts of Karnataka against the Supreme Court direction to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
Suspected pro-Tamil protesters attacked and damaged a hotel run by a native of Karnataka in Chennai.
He claimed that a couple of days ago Karunanidhi had reportedly said in Thanjavur that the award was more advantageous to Tamil Nadu than to Karnataka.
On October 18, the apex court had directed Karnataka to keep supplying Tamil Nadu with 2,000 cusecs of water till further orders.
He said Karnataka's decision to release water will help Tamil Nadu's farmers.
The Tamil Nadu-Karnataka bickering over Hogenakkal is back. Karnataka, with a new government in place, now says the Hogenakkal drinking water project does not fall under the purview of the decision of the Cauvery Water Tribunal.
Vehicles have stopped plying from Sathyamangalam near Erode to Mysore following demonstrations and hartal by some Kannada outfits in parts of Karnataka protesting the Supreme Court directive to release 10,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.
Vehicles have stopped plying from Sathyamangalam near Erode to Mysore following demonstrations and hartal by some Kannada outfits in parts of Karnataka protesting the Supreme Court directive to release 10,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.
The emotional appeal and sane advise came from the bench when Tamil Nadu brought to the notice of the court that the Karnataka chief minister has said that not a drop of water will be released to it.
After six years, the final award of the Cauvery Waters Dispute Tribunal was notified on Wednesday. The move came after the Supreme Court rapped the Centre for delaying the decision. The apex court had set February 20 as the deadline to issue the notification.
Amid a row over Cauvery water sharing, Karnataka will file a review petition on Tuesday before Cauvery River Authority after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made it clear that only the authority can revisit the decision about the state releasing water to Tamil Nadu.
Protests against release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu snowballed in the river basin areas on Thursday, as a central team arrived in Bangalore to assess the water storage levels.
RIL is likely to take about six months to one year to estimate the oil and gas reserves available from the new discovery.
The Tribunal had on Tuesday last refused to hear clarificatory applications filed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.
