The Karnataka government on Saturday, August 19 invited Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty to the cabinet meeting and held a detailed discussion with him over the order to release water from River Cauvery to Tamil Nadu. The cabinet directed the Advocate General to file a petition before the Supreme Court questioning the order to release water to Tamil Nadu.
Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha, Minister for Law HK Patil said that the petition will be filed on Monday. “I can’t give more information on the issue as the state is approaching the Supreme Court,” he said.
Earlier this week, Tamil Nadu had submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court, requesting an order to compel Karnataka to release a daily quota of 24,000 cusecs of Cauvery water for the purpose of sustaining standing crops.
When asked about Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar allegedly concealing the order of the tribunal to release water for a week and the BJP announcing a protest over the matter, Patil explained that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has already said that he would call for an all-party meeting over the issue. Hence, there is no scope for protests. He said that peace should be maintained and the matter can be discussed in the meeting.
The Minister added that the cabinet has also decided to open 188 Indira canteens outside Bengaluru. The local cuisine in the respective areas will be served at subsidised rates for the public. The government has allotted Rs 21.29 crores for these Indira canteens. He said that the government will also repair around 197 Indira canteens in the state.