Cauvery Issue: Can’t Release Water to TN, Karnataka Tells SC

This comes as the government filed an appeal seeking to modify the order on providing water to Tamil Nadu.

Protesters vandalised a bus stop and burned several vehicles in Bengaluru over the Cauvery dispute. Photo used for representational purpose. (Photo: PTI)

The Karnataka government on Monday told the Supreme Court that it cannot provide the Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu till year end.

The government also said that the water should be treated as “arrears” and the state would be able release it by the end of December.

This comes as the government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court seeking to modify the court’s order on providing water to the neighbouring state. The plea is to modify the order dated 20 September that had asked Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu every month.

The government’s appeal came two days after a special legislature session passed a resolution stating that Karnataka could not release the water.

In a special session held on 23 September, both the Houses of the legislature had mandated that Cauvery water shall be drawn only for meeting the drinking water needs of Bengaluru and other towns.