Amid demands by leaders
from Karnataka to review the Cauvery River Authority's
decision of asking the state to release 9,000 cusecs of water
for Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened a
meeting of political leaders from the state Monday. Leaders from Karnataka, including External Affairs
Minister S M Krishna, Power Minister Veerappa Moily and BJP
leader Ananth Kumar besides Water Resources Minister Pawan
Kumar Bansal are likely to meet the Prime Minister in Delhi
for consultations on the contentious water dispute between
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The consultations come ahead of the Cauvery monitoring
committee meeting slated on October 11. The monitoring panel
will decide release of water from Karnataka after October 15. The Cauvery River Authority had last month directed
Karnataka to release 9,000 cusecs of water to its neighbouring
state on a daily basis between September 20 and October 15. Amid a raging water-sharing dispute between the two
southern states, a central team is already visiting the two
states to see water level in reservoirs, the condition of
standing crops and water flow. This visit will help the
Cauvery Monitoring Committee to take a call on the issue. Tamil Nadu had demanded release of 24,000 cusecs of water,
while the Supreme Court had asked Karnataka to release 10,000
cusecs. The CRA, after hearing the views of both the states,
awarded release of 9,000 cusecs. CMC comprises officials of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala
and Pudducherry, besides central representatives. Meanwhile, intense protests over release of water to Tamil
Nadu continued to sweep Cauvery river basin areas for the
eighth day as Karnataka hoped for a "positive response" from
the Supreme Court tomorrow on its plea for reconsideration of
the September 28 order. "I am optimistic of a good (favourable) verdict (for
Karnataka)", Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar told reporters
during his visits to Hubli-Dharwad and Belgaum in north
Karnataka today.
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