Narayanasamy criticises Karnataka govt. for not sharing river water with TN

Chennai, Sep 30 (ANI): Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office (PMO), V Narayanasamy on Sunday criticised the Karnataka Government for allegedly raking up sentiments of people and not sharing Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu.

"The interim award that has been passed by the Cauvery (River) Authority has to be complied by the Karnataka Government during the interregnum period, especially during the season when rain is not there. Therefore, the Karnataka Government raising the sentiments of the people and doing agitation is totally unwarranted," Narayanasamy told media here.

The Supreme Court had earlier directed the Karnataka Government to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu to comply with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan 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.

He said the court may direct deployment of the Army in Karnataka to ensure compliance of the CRA order.

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. (ANI)