Bengaluru, Aug 15 (IANS): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K Shivakumar on Tuesday said that direction has been given to release around 10 Thousand Million Cubic (TMC) water to the neighbouring state -- Tamil Nadu.

“I am again requesting for the construction of the Mekedatu project which is in the interest of both -- Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government is not agreeing to take up the project. The project is in the interest of both the states,” Shivakumar said.

Shivakumar, who is also Minister for Major and Minor Irrigation, had earlier said that Tamil Nadu should not have gone to the Supreme Court over release of Cauvery River water. “We are going to honor the court’s verdict on sharing water under distress period over River Cauvery water,” he said.

“We have to work unitedly to safeguard the interests of the two states,” he said while answering a question on Tamil Nadu approaching the Supreme Court demanding the release from the River Cauvery from dams of Karnataka.

Meanwhile, former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraja Bommai had urged the Congress government not to release water from River Cauvery to Tamil Nadu. He alleged that the neighboring state has violated the verdict of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in the Cauvery basin.

Bommai has written a letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and demanded him to initiate legal proceedings against the move of Tamil Nadu to approach the Supreme Court.

As per the provisions in CWDT, Tamil Nadu can grow 1.80 lakh acres of Kuruvai crop and utilise 32 TMC water but, Tamil Nadu by Aug 7, 2023 has utilised 60.97 TMC water for Kuruvai crop which is double the proportion stipulated by the CWDT.

Bommai said that without taking into consideration the water shortage in the Cauvery River catchment area had provided four times more water than stipulated for Kuruvai crop.

During the recently held state assembly election, the Congress had said that it will implement the Mekedatu project for providing drinking water to Bengaluru and surrounding areas.

Shivakumar had also repeatedly said that implementation of the Mekedatu project is inevitable and as soon as Congress comes to power it will implement it without any delay.