Bengaluru, 15 July

The Karnataka government told the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) on Wednesday that it can’t release water to Tamil Nadu citing a severe rainfall deficit and negligible reservoir inflows. 

However, Tamil Nadu argued that Karnataka should release 9.19 TMC for the month of June and 31.24 TMC for the month of July, for a total of 40.43 TMC of water. But the CWRC issued no directions to the Karnataka government to release water, and scheduled the next meeting for 28 July, noting the possibility of rainfall in the coming days. 

This comes amid tensions in Karnataka over the rainfall deficit. Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Central assistance, noting that Karnataka had received 203 mm of rainfall against the normal 292 mm, or a 30 per cent deficit. He stated that 18 of the State's 31 districts and 141 of its 240 taluks had recorded deficit to large-deficit rainfall and that Kharif sowing had covered only 34 per cent of its targets. 

However, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka asked on X “what moral authority” the Congress had to request the Centre for assistance given that Karnataka does not have full-time Ministers for Agriculture and Horticulture. Ashoka had earlier threatened to lay siege to the KRS dam if water was released to Tamil Nadu.