Cauvery dispute: BJP MPs from Karnataka meet Manmohan Singh

New Delhi: A delegation of BJP MPs from Karnataka on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to demand that the order asking the state to provide Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu be withdrawn as the state is suffering from a shortage of water and facing drought-like conditions. The delegation comprising 16 BJP MPs from Karnataka met Singh at his office in New Delhi to inform him that the water level in the state's reservoirs was decreasing while the requirements have gone up.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, party MP Ananth Kumar said, "Karnataka requires 30 tmc ft of drinking water for Bangalore, Mysore and other cities. We require more than 120 tmcft of water for the standing crop and drinking water in Cauvery Basin area." M Venkaiah Naidu, Prahlad Joshi, Basavraj Patil, Prabhakar Kore, B Y Raghvendra, and G S Basavaraj were among the MPs who met the PM.

Cauvery River Authority headed by the Prime Minister had ordered Karnataka to provide 9,000 Cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu everyday. The delegation also argued that Tamil Nadu has sufficient water and does not need Karnataka's help.

The MPs from Karnataka told the Prime Minister that the order to provide Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu should be withdrawn.

"Tamil Nadu is serviced by the North-East monsoon which is going to onset in the near future and will be there till December. It is going to benefit from releases from Karnataka which have been stored from scarce and scanty south-west monsoon and also get the benefit of North East monsoon. They have sufficient water and we don't have water," Kumar said.

Karnataka has filed a complaint with the Supreme Court and the Cauvery River Authority in the matter. "We have been releasing 21 tmcft of water for the last 20 days. Therefore, we urge the Prime Minister that he should review his decision and give a stay order forthwith for giving any more water from today itself," Kumar said.

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