Karnataka will nominate representatives to Cauvery Board: Kumaraswamy

New Delhi, June 18: Karnataka will soon send to the Centre the names of its nominees in the Cauvery Water Management Board (CMB) and the Regulation Authority but it will have to address certain issues first, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said on Monday. He told reporters that they have to abide by the Supreme Court judgement in the case relating to the sharing of Cauvery waters with Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. After meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari, he said issues related to the Board were among others taken up during the discussions. “There were two or three technical issues regarding the setting up of the board which had to be sorted out before it starts functioning. I requested Water Resources Ministry to change two-three clauses and it has responded positively,” Kumaraswamy said.

He said the state has expressed concerns over issues such as proposed revision of water quantity in the dams by the Board at the interval of 10 days, Board’s directions on water release and to farmers on which crops to cultivate.

“That is impractical. It is not plausible for farmers to implement the directions. These are the issues I raised objections to,” he said. Earlier, he had reportedly said that Parliament should have discussed the matter and a resolution passed on the issue of setting up the Board. Karnataka has been opposed to the setting up of the Board and prefers a negotiated solution to the vexed water sharing issue. (IANS)