Bengaluru: Apologizing to people for not participating in the Cauvery agitation till now due to his US visit, cine actor turned politician M.H. Ambareesh said he would be visiting Mandya on September 30 to meet farmers and leaders.
Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, he clarified that his participation in the AKKA function in US was decided long ago and he could not cancel it because of the love and affection shown by Kannada speaking people abroad.
Besides, he had also gone for a detailed medical examination by an Indian origin doctor settled in the US. "Though, I was physically in the US, my heart was in Mandya after I heard of the Supreme Court directive to release water from KRS to Tamil Nadu. Being an upper riparian state, Karnataka has always been at the receiving end and meted out injustice even by Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal".
Appreciating Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for taking bold steps so far, Mr Ambareesh wanted the CM to stick to his stand in the interests of farmers and citizens who were dependent on the Cauvery for their survival. It was unscientific of Cauvery tribunal to fix the monthly quota for releasing water to TN instead of working out a distress formula. There was no mention in the tribunal's final orders about the mechanism to be followed if rains fail. The State had been releasing water whenever it received good rains. But the State of Tamil Nadu should also share distress with Karnataka when the monsoon fails.
Excess water had been released in the past and even TN had let out water into the sea after Mettur dam reached its brim. "The TN government is free to build check dams or reservoirs downstream of Mettur Dam to impound water during a good monsoon".
Asked whether he would tender his resignation as MLA, Ambareesh said he would not hesitate to resign if injustice was done to people of the state.
Congress party favours release of water to TN to avoid legal tangle?
A day after the apex court directed karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu, the Congress party seems to be considering complying with the directive of the Apex Court.
This change of thinking seems to be happening after the party high command intervened, sources said.
The central leadership was involved in the decision making process since last week. First it advised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to involve all parties while passing an unanimous resolution in the Legislature against releasing 6,000 cusecs of water to TN. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader contended that one of the best things Mr Siddarmaiah did was to take everyone into confidence, including his arch rivals like former prime minister, H.D. Deve Gowda and former external affairs minister, S.M. Krishna. "All through this week, central leaders backed him to the hilt and now these leaders have asked him to release water to Tamil Nadu to secure the state's future interests in the Supreme Court," the source explained.
“It has been smooth sailing so far therefore, the Congress party does not want to ruin this plan by antagonising the judiciary any further, hence, the central leadership has quietly sent a message that Mr Siddaramaiah should not hesitate to release water to the neighbouring state," the source rationalised.
As part of this plan, Chief Minister, Siddarmaiah had indicated after the all-party meeting that the government had only deferred release of water till the meet called by Union water resources minister, Uma Bharti on Thursday.
