Karnataka to Decide on Cauvery Water Release After All-Party Meet on August 2

Bengaluru, July 2026 : The Karnataka government will take a final decision on the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu only after an all-party meeting on August 2, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Friday, as the state continued to oppose the latest direction of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).

Shivakumar, addressing a joint press conference at Vidhana Soudha with Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara and Water Resources Minister Ramalinga Reddy, said protecting Karnataka’s interests and safeguarding the state’s farmers remained the government’s foremost priority.

The Chief Minister said former chief ministers, Members of Parliament, ministers, legal experts and senior bureaucrats had been invited to Sunday’s meeting. The participants would be briefed on the legal, hydrological and administrative aspects of the Cauvery dispute before deciding the state’s next course of action.

The meeting assumes significance after the CWMA, on Thursday, upheld the direction of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) asking Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.

Karnataka had strongly opposed the direction and sought both a reduction in the quantum of water and postponement of the release dates.

Shivakumar said Karnataka’s representatives had presented the state’s position before the CWRC and subsequently before the CWMA. He said officials, including the Managing Director and two advisers, argued that the state’s reservoir levels and water availability needed to be taken into consideration before imposing any additional release obligation.

According to Shivakumar, Karnataka had released only 0.6 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu until July this year, describing it as the lowest release recorded in a century. He maintained that the state had not made any additional release beyond the normal flow.

The Chief Minister cited reservoir levels to underline Karnataka’s concerns. He said Harangi was at 90 per cent capacity, Kabini at 83 per cent, Hemavathi at 67 per cent and Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) at only 36 per cent.

At the same time, he said inflows had been improving, with Karnataka receiving nearly 26,000 cusecs, equivalent to around 2 TMC of water. Against this backdrop, he questioned the feasibility of releasing 3,500 cusecs daily while the state’s own reservoirs remained at varying levels.

Shivakumar also pointed to Karnataka’s record during years of plentiful rainfall. He claimed that against the stipulated annual requirement of 177 TMC, the state had released more than 400 TMC to Tamil Nadu last year.

He said a substantial portion of that water ultimately flowed into the sea and argued that Karnataka had demonstrated its willingness to comply with its obligations when water availability permitted.

The Chief Minister said Tamil Nadu had initially sought the release of 9.94 TMC, while the authorities had directed Karnataka to release roughly half that quantity over the specified period.

“We requested that the quantum of water to be released be reduced and that the dates for release be deferred,” Shivakumar said, adding that Karnataka had placed all available hydrological data before the authorities.

He stressed that reservoir inflows were a matter of public record and could not be concealed or manipulated. According to him, the state’s case had been presented effectively by its officials during the proceedings.

Shivakumar also sought to project political unity on the Cauvery issue, welcoming the cooperation extended by BJP leaders and Union Ministers, including Pralhad Joshi, V. Somanna and Shobha Karandlaje, in presenting Karnataka’s position before the Centre and the CWMA.

He said Congress governments had historically stood by Karnataka’s interests in the Cauvery dispute, beginning with the tenure of former Chief Minister S. Bangarappa, and asserted that his government would continue to protect the interests of farmers.

The Chief Minister also spoke about the proposed visit of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay to Bengaluru on August 3. Shivakumar said he had spoken to Vijay personally and requested him to postpone the visit given the prevailing tensions surrounding the Cauvery issue.

At the same time, Shivakumar struck a conciliatory note, saying the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had a responsibility to protect his state’s interests just as Karnataka’s leadership had a responsibility to safeguard its own farmers.

“His responsibility is to protect the interests of his state, while ours is to safeguard Karnataka’s interests,” he said, adding that both sides should approach the issue with the hope of finding an amicable solution.

Shivakumar further stressed the need for greater inter-state cooperation on river-water management. He referred to recent discussions involving Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on the Tungabhadra river, including concerns over water wastage, desiltation and the formation of an inter-state committee involving Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

He also mentioned proposals concerning balancing reservoirs and the broader Godavari-Cauvery-Krishna river-linking project, while appreciating Union Minister C. R. Patil for facilitating discussions.

Meanwhile, protests over the Cauvery issue have been reported from BJP leaders, Kannada organisations and farmer groups. Shivakumar said such concerns reflected the sensitivity of the matter but maintained that his government would not compromise on Karnataka’s interests.

He reiterated that the August 2 all-party meeting would provide an opportunity for political parties, legal experts and officials to examine the issue collectively before a final decision is taken.

“We want discussions between the two states to take place in a cordial atmosphere,” Shivakumar said, emphasising that farmers on both sides of the inter-state dispute ultimately depend on the same precious water resource.

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)