The Supreme court had ordered Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu on Tuesday – second time in a row – till it convenes another hearing on Friday. Karnataka has said that it cannot release water since its cities are in danger of running out of drinking water.
With quite a few crucial meetings lined up to end the deadlock on the Cauvery issue, The Quint will keep you updated about some key developments through the day. Here is what has happened till now.
1) Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti is holding a meeting with the representatives of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to discuss the Cauvery issue in Delhi.
2) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who is admitted in the hospital, has deputed the state’s Public Works Department Minister E Palanisamy to represent Tamil Nadu in the meeting of the states ordered by the Supreme Court.
3) After an all-party meeting on Wednesday the Karnataka cabinet deferred the decision on release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till the meeting in Delhi. The Supreme Court on Tuesday had ordered Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu for the next three days.
4) The Supreme Court said, “In the interest of federal cooperation where all constitutional bodies have a role to play, Karnataka should follow our order despite the resolution passed by the state assembly.”
5) On 23 September, the two Houses of Karnataka passed a resolution to deny Tamil Nadu Cauvery water on the grounds of an impending drinking water crisis in major cities of Karnataka.
6) In an interview to a leading news magazine Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that, Cauvery dispute needs a political not a legal solution and the Prime Minister must make the beginning.
7) Section 144 has been imposed in Bengaluru till 30 September midnight after the Supreme Court order on Tuesday. On September 12, Violence broke out in Karnataka after the Supreme Court’s order to release water for Tamil Nadu.
8) The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to set up a Cauvery Management Board (CMB), an expert dispute-resolution body, to discuss the Cauvery issue.
9) Forced bandhs and vandalism, that took place after Cauvery protests turned violent on 12 and 13 September in Bengaluru, have hurt Karnataka’s economy and image all over the world.
10) The Cauvery river originates in Karnataka and flows through Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. The four states have fought over its water for over a century now. The issue is political and highly evocative, primarily in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
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