CM Siddaramaiah Stresses Preparedness Ahead of Assembly, Decides on Cauvery Water Release

CM Siddaramaiah stressed the importance of ministers being well-prepared for the assembly session and announced the decision to release 8,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu. This decision followed an all-party meeting held to discuss the issue and gather views from various leaders.

On Sunday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah underscored the necessity for ministers to be meticulously prepared for the upcoming assembly session, emphasizing the importance of attending in person. Ahead of the session beginning on Monday, Siddaramaiah convened a pre-session meeting with key officials to discuss departmental issues.

At the Home Office Krishna, the Chief Minister gathered comprehensive insights from departmental secretaries on potential discussion topics and directed them to prepare relevant data. He made it clear that all secretaries and heads of departments should be present to support their ministers during the discussions, and assured them of his intervention if required.

Senior officials, including Chief Secretary Dr. Rajneesh Goel and Deputy Chief Secretary L.K. Ateeq, were also in attendance. Earlier, the Karnataka Government decided to release 8,000 cusecs of water from the Cauvery River to Tamil Nadu instead of one thousand million cubic meters.

This decision emerged from an 'all-party meeting' held at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru to address issues related to the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's directives. Attendees included CM Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, BJP leader CT Ravi, and other state leaders.

Following the meeting, CM Siddaramaiah announced, 'An all-party meeting took place today with Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, BJP leaders, and Mysuru basin leaders. They suggested releasing 8,000 cusecs of water, with a potential increase if it rains. We also decided to appeal against the decision to release one thousand million cubic meters daily.'

Deputy CM DK Shivakumar echoed this sentiment, stating, 'The regulatory authority had decided on one thousand million cubic meters of water. We chose to release 8,000 cusecs due to a 30% water shortage. We will appeal before the monitoring committee, balancing regulatory decisions and farmers' interests.'