CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay has sought a meeting with his Karnataka counterpart, D K Shivakumar, to discuss the release of Cauvery water amid a widening shortfall in the state’s stipulated share and reiterate Tamil Nadu’s opposition to the Mekedatu dam, sources told TOI. Between June 1 and July 22, Tamil Nadu received just 3.5tmcft of water against the 31tmcft mandated under the Supreme Court’s order.Sources said the Tamil Nadu govt sought a meeting in the last week of July, citing the precarious water situation caused by deficit rainfall. Karnataka initially indicated that the meeting could be held either on July 31 or Aug 3 and later confirmed Aug 3. “However, Karnataka govt informed on Friday morning that the chief minister may have to travel to Delhi in connection with his proposed cabinet expansion. Confirmation is expected on Monday,” an official source said. If Shivakumar travels to Delhi that day to meet Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the talks may have to be rescheduled.Tamil Nadu maintains that Karnataka has not released water on a pro-rata basis after accounting for the rainfall deficit. On Friday, the Mettur reservoir had 37 tmcft of water against its total capacity of 93 tmcft. “The state should have received about 3tmcft more even after taking the rainfall shortfall into consideration. The Tamil Nadu govt wants to hold talks with the Karnataka chief minister before approaching the Supreme Court,” another official said.A similar meeting was held in Bengaluru in Nov 2012, when then chief minister J Jayalalithaa met her Karnataka counterpart Jagadish Shettar following a suggestion from the Supreme Court that the two states try to resolve the issue amicably. The talks, however, failed as Karnataka refused to release water.Tamil Nadu recently raised the shortfall before the Cauvery Water Management Authority, pointing out that inflow into the Mettur reservoir remained meagre. Water is currently being released from Mettur at 1,000 cusecs to meet drinking-water requirements. The state urged the authority to direct Karnataka to make good the shortfall and ensure future releases on a pro-rata basis in accordance with the Supreme Court’s 2018 judgment.Tamil Nadu also pointed out that the combined live storage in Karnataka’s four major Cauvery-basin reservoirs stood at about 49tmcft. The reservoirs had received cumulative inflows of nearly 32tmcft, compared with the 30-year average of about 82tmcft.
