Cauvery Water Issue: The resolution moved by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin to direct the Karnataka government to release Cauvery water as per the orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority in the Tamil Nadu Assembly was passed unanimously on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Stalin said, "In order to protect the livelihood of farmers in the delta region of Tamil Nadu, the House unanimously urges the Union government to direct the Karnataka government to release water to Tamil Nadu," as quoted by the news agency PTI.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly convened today, amid the Cauvery river water dispute with neighbouring Karnataka, besides other local issues. This will also the first session post snapping of ties between ertwhile allies, the AIADMK and BJP.
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have been at loggerheads over sharing the Cauvery river water as Bengaluru says it does not have enough water to share while Chennai demands for more water to be released. On September 30, Tamil Nadu farmers blocked Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses at Tiruchirappalli central bus stand and staged a protest against the Cauvery water sharing issue.
Last month witnessed several protests by farmers in both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu's Delta Farmers Association members hit themselves with whips to express their pain due to the drying up of farmlands due to lack of Cauvery water. While AIADMK, the main opposition party has 66 MLAs, BJP has 4. The two had jointly faced the 2021 state polls as NDA constituents.
The row over river water sharing erupted after the Cauvery authority ordered the release of 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till October 15. While Karnataka officials said that they were not in a position to release water to Tamil Nadu, the lower riparian state demanded CWMA to release 12,500 cusecs of water for the next 15 days to save the standing crops.