Daijiworld Media Network-Bengaluru (RJP)

Bengaluru, Sep 6: When more than three quarters of the Karnataka state is suffering from draught related problems, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa has demanded water from Karnataka.

Jayalalithaa known for her hard bargains has written a letter to the prime minister Narendra Modi asking him to direct Karnataka to follow the Cauvery water disputes tribunal’s final award.

Jayalalithaa has accused Karnataka of not releasing water intentionally as per the requirement of the award. The letter has been written on September 3.

‘Karnataka has enough stock of water presently in its four reservoirs in the Cauvery region. It has been utilising this water for agricultural purposes since July’ the letter reads.

Jayalalithaa has also demanded to constitute other committees to facilitate flow of Cauvery water into her state. The letter says ‘Tamil Nadu has received 66.44 TMC of water when it was supposed to receive 94 TMC. The shortfall of 27.56 TMC should not have taken place’

Siddaramaiah says No

Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah has said that Tamil Nadu should understand the present realities before demanding water from the state.

"Everybody knows that we have the worst draught problem. We are witnessing such situation after 40 years. We have less than half water in our reservoirs. How can we release water to Tamil Nadu now?” Siddaramaiah said in Mysuru replying to jayaallithaa's demands.

“When we had water, we had released enough. We gave them water in June and July when we had the surplus. Now when we are having the problems with water, they should understand our problems and should share our woes.” Siddaramaiah added.