Cauvery water dispute: PM to meet Karnataka leaders; SC to hear plea

New Delhi/Bangalore: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet Congress leaders from Karnataka on Monday over the Cauvery water dispute. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, Power Minister Veerappa Moily, BJP leader Ananth Kumar and Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal are likely to attend the meet. This comes amid demands by leaders from Karnataka to review the Cauvery River Authority's decision of asking the state to release 9,000 cusecs of water for Tamil Nadu.

Karnataka has sought a stay on the Cauvery order which directs it to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu. The Supreme Court is expected to give its decision on Monday.

Meanwhile, intense protests over release of water to Tamil Nadu continued to sweep Cauvery river basin areas for the eighth day on Sunday as Karnataka hoped for a "positive response" from the Supreme Court on Monday on its plea for reconsideration of the September 28 order. The agitators today continued their hunger-strike in Mandya, the Cauvery heartland, and staged a rasta-roko at Maddur-Gejjalagere, disrupting traffic on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. Processions were taken out in Mysore. Agitated farmers demonstrated at several places in Mandya and Mysore districts, raising slogans against the Central and Tamil Nadu governments.

Karnataka has sought a stay on the Cauvery order which directs it to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.

This comes ahead of the Cauvery monitoring committee meeting slated on October 11. The monitoring panel will decide on the release of water from Karnataka after October 15. The Cauvery River Authority had last month directed Karnataka to release 9,000 cusecs of water to its neighbouring state on a daily basis between September 20 and October 15.

Amid a raging water-sharing dispute between the two southern states, a central team is already visiting the two states to see water level in reservoirs, the condition of standing crops and water flow. This visit will help the Cauvery Monitoring Committee to take a call on the issue.

Tamil Nadu had demanded release of 24,000 cusecs of water, while the Supreme Court had asked Karnataka to release 10,000 cusecs. The CRA, after hearing the views of both the states, awarded release of 9,000 cusecs.

CMC comprises officials of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry, besides central representatives. Meanwhile, intense protests over release of water to Tamil Nadu continued to sweep Cauvery river basin areas for the eighth day as Karnataka hoped for a "positive response" from the Supreme Court on Monday on its plea for reconsideration of the September 28 order. "I am optimistic of a good (favourable) verdict (for Karnataka)", Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said during his visits to Hubli-Dharwad and Belgaum in north Karnataka on Sunday.

(With additional information from PTI)

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