Cauvery water row: Manmohan Singh to meet Karnataka leaders on Monday
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet political leaders from Karnataka on Monday over the Cauvery water dispute.
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Power Minister Veerappa Moily, BJP leader Ananth Kumar and Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal are likely to attend the meeting.
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.
The Cauvery Monitoring Committee panel will decide release of water from Karnataka after 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.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed the Karnataka Government to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu to comply with Singh-headed Cauvery River Authority (CRA).
An apex court bench of Justices D.K. Jain and Madan Lokur warned Karnataka that if it failed to comply with the CRA directive, it (the bench) will have to pass appropriate orders.
"This is the order passed by the CRA, headed by the Prime Minister. You don't want to comply with it. We are very sorry for the kind of respect you have for the highest authority. You comply with the directive or we will pass the order," the apex bench told the counsel appearing for the Karnataka Government.
The apex court then directed the state to release 9,000 cusecs of water under the distress sharing formula from September 20 to October 15 and sought its reply within a week.
Senior counsel C.S. Vaidyanathan, who appeared for Tamil Nadu, earlier urged the apex court to direct the Union Government under Article 355 of the Constitution to protect the state's interest.
Under Article 355, it is the duty of the Union Government to protect states against external aggression, internal disturbances and to ensure that the governance of the state is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
The apex court was hearing an application by Tamil Nadu to direct Karnataka to release 2-tmc ft of water daily for 24 days till the onset of the northeast monsoon.
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