Bengaluru: The Karnataka government is ready to release 8,000 cusecs of water per day instead of one TMC from the Cauvery river to neighbouring Tamil Nadu by the end of this month as directed by the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Sunday.

The Chief Minister told reporters after the all-party meeting here that there is only 63 per cent water in the Cauvery basin dams and in this situation, the state is not in a position to release even one TMC of water per day. The all-party meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, JD(S) MLA GT Devegowda, farmer leaders and legal experts.

Siddaramaiah placed a condition in the all-party meeting

"Everyone was of the opinion that we should release not one TMC but 8,000 cusecs of water, which is 11,500 cusecs. If there is no rain, we will reduce the release and file an appeal before the Cauvery Water Management Authority," Siddaramaiah said. According to him, the Cauvery Water Regulatory Authority has directed that one TMC of water should be released every day from July 12 till the end of the month.

He said that in a normal year, 9.14 TMC of water should be released in June and 31.24 TMC in July. Advocate Mohan Kataraki, who was present in the meeting, said that this time the Krishnarajasagar dam on the Cauvery river has only 54 per cent water, while other dams in the Cauvery basin have only 63 per cent water.

CM told when water was given to Tamil Nadu

The Chief Minister said that on July 12, there was a flow of 5,000 cusecs of water in Kabini, which was allowed to flow towards Tamil Nadu. He said that on Saturday, 5,000 cusecs of water was flowing in Biligundlu. He said that 20,000 cusecs on July 12 and 19,000 cusecs on July 13 were released from Kabini dam to Tamil Nadu, as water cannot be stored for long due to its holding capacity.

Siddaramaiah said that all parties in Karnataka were unanimous that they should appeal to the CWMA as it is not possible to release even one TMC of water. Kataraki said that we cannot say that we cannot release water as it would be an insult to the Cauvery Tribunal. We will release 8,000 cusecs. If there is good rain then it is okay to release one TMC. We are expecting good rains this time."

The chief minister said 2023 was a 'crisis year' with less rainfall. "In a normal year, we release 177 TMC of water, but last year we released only 81 TMC of water," he said.