Bengaluru: The state’s inability to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu was conveyed by Chief Secretary, Subhash Chandra Khuntia, to a delegation of officers of Tamil Nadu led by principal secretary, PWD, S K Prabhakar, here on Saturday.
Mr Khuntia told the media after his meeting with authorities from the neighbouring state “The delegation requested us (Karnataka) to release three TMC feet of water on humanitarian grounds but I have explained that the state's contingency plans are inadequate to meet the state’s drinking water requirement.”
He said the total water storage level in all four reservoirs stood at 8.8 TMC feet at a time when the average monthly requirement for supply of drinking water in the Cauvery basin was three TMC feet. Therefore, the state would face a shortage of water during summer months.
He, however, added that the state would take steps to release water to Tamil Nadu in case of an early spell of rain as the neighbouring state had sought the release on humanitarian grounds, and not on the basis of the tribunal’s award.
