Cauvery scene grim, DKS to pray for rain

Expressing fear over the delay in the onset of monsoon, Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar said the water situation in the Cauvery basin was “very bleak” and that the state was “in a difficult situation”.

“It is very shocking that rains haven’t started,” Shivakumar told reporters.

The combined live storage in all four reservoirs of the Cauvery basin — Krishnaraja Sagar, Kabini, Hemavathi and Harangi — was 13.93 tmcft as against their full live storage capacity of 104.55 tmcft.

“We are in a difficult situation and our only hope is that it rains,” Shivakumar said.

The minister said he would pray for rain at Kigga in Chikkmagaluru district on June 6 as part of a statewide drive to hold special rituals seeking divine intervention for rainfall.

All financially-sound Muzrai temples have been ordered to conduct Parjanya Japa to invoke Varuna, the rain God, on June 6, he said.

The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) has ordered Karnataka to release 9.19 tmcft of water for June from the Biligundlu reservoir on the interstate border to Mettur Dam in Tamil Nadu.

“We respect laws and judgements, but we have informed them (CWMA) that water will be released to Tamil Nadu only if there is water,” Shivakumar said.

“Otherwise, we have to follow the distress-sharing formula. I am sure they are convinced on the issue.”

The water situation was bleak in north Karnataka as well, the minister said. He hit out at Maharashtra for backtracking on its promise to release water to Krishna river.

Shivakumar said the government had submitted a DPR on the Mekedatu reservoir and drinking water project. “This is before the Central Water Commission,” he said.