Karnataka is not in a position to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu at this juncture due to the failed monsoon and we will explain the ground reality to the Supreme Court, said Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Mysuru on Tuesday, maintaining that the water level in the reservoir had hit the rock-bottom.  

He said, "They have petitioned the SC. We will make the SC aware of the ground realities in Karnataka. Tamil Nadu is asking for 50 tmc-ft that was supposed to be released in a normal year. Did we have a normal yearIJ The water level in the KRS Dam here is 93 feet instead of the 124 feet it was supposed to be in the rainy season. A total of 50 tmc-ft water is there from four reservoirs in the Cauvery river basin area which was supposed to be 114 tmc-ft. It is not that we don't want to release water, but we don't have water. We don't have water for our crops; we want 40 tmc-ft of water for drinking. Where do we have water to releaseIJ" Siddaramaiah added.

On September 2, the SC will hear the Tamil Nadu Government's plea seeking release of 50 tmc of water from Karnataka to meet its irrigation demands.

Karnataka had on August 27 made it clear that it was not possible for it to spare Cauvery water for Tamil Nadu given the "severe distress" it was facing, with an all-party meeting deciding that the same stand should be placed before the SC in the next hearing.

For Karnataka Government the situation is like caught between the devil and the deep sea. The State Government has to release water to the farmers in Cauvery Basin in the State through irrigation canals for the standing paddy crop and also release water to Tamil Nadu farmers. The farmers here also are pleading the Government to release the water for their crops. However the Government is saying that it was not possible as the water is needed for drinking purpose for many towns which include Bengaluru.

According to official data, all reservoirs in Cauvery basin have just 50 per cent of the water.

Karnataka water resources Minister MB Patil who released the water storage data in Bengaluru pleads his  inability and said “ there is no water and we are ready to apprise the situation to the SC”.

“Forty out of 57 TMC feet water left in four major Reservoirs in Cauvery basin will be used for drinking water in Mysore, Mandya and Bengaluru for the next 2 months. If there is no rainfall in the coming months, Karnataka will face its third consecutive drought adding more burden to the problem-stricken farmers” he added.

Meanwhile leader of the BJP BS Yeddyurappa who was part of an all-party delegation suggested that SC can send a technical team to assess the situation in the state. However the state law Minister TB Jayachandra said  Tamil Nadu has enough water storage to release from its reservoirs. He said “Tamil Nadu need not panic. It can release water to the standing crops of its farmers as the State’s reservoirs have adequate quantity of water”. Moreover, he explained that TN will get north-east monsoon from next month onwards and there was no need to create an impression that Karnataka was acting against the interests of Tamil Nadu’s farmers.

In another development farmers protesting against the release of Cauvery water to TN stalled the screening a Tamil film in Mysuru on Tuesday. The protestors also gathered in front of CADA offices and held a demonstration against release of water to Tamil Nadu.