As per the apex court directions, a high level Central technical team will be visiting Cauvery basin areas in Karnataka for two days from Friday. The team headed by GS Jha, Chairman Central Water Commission (CWC) will assess the entire situation in the Cauvery basin and submit its report by October 17, before the next hearing in the matter on October 18.
The decision to set up the panel – formed by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation – follows a Supreme Court order that asked for a supervisory panel to lead a team to survey the situation in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and submit a report by October 17.
The court had also directed Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from October 7 to 18.
Other team will also include Central Water Commission official S Masood Husain, chief engineer of the Krishna and Godavari Basin Organisation RK Gupta, chief secretaries from both states and a chief engineer each from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.
The high-level technical team will meet in Bengaluru on October 7 and visit Karnataka's four reservoirs – Hemavathi, Harangi, Krishna Raj Sagar and Kabini – followed by Tamil Nadu's Mettur and Amaravati reservoirs as well as the lower Bhavani dam.
The team is scheduled to comply with the apex court's order to submit their report by October 17, before the next hearing in the matter on October 18.
Meanwhile Karnataka will submit a memorandum to the high-level Central technical team on the present drought like situation prevailed in the Cauvery basin. MB Patil, Karnataka water resources Minister said “the Central study team, during its two days of visit in the Cauvery basin, would be briefed on the poor rain fall received in the region, water level position in all the four reservoirs”.
“The team which would be accompanied by the representatives of the both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu would also make a field visit in the region and witness the barren lands where farmers could not raise their normal crops and also withering crop due to non release of water from the canals”.
Stating that the storage position in all the four reservoirs including at KRS, Kabini and Gorur, are alarmingly low, he reminded that “farmers could plant in about one third of the total allocated cropped area of about 18 lakhacres and out of which the standing crops in about 2 lakh acres, have lost due to monsoon failure”.
Rakesh Singh, the Principal Secretary, Water Resources department, Chikrayappa, MD, Cauvery Neeravari Nigama limited Managing and Shivakumar, Chief Engineer, KRS division, would accompany the Central study team which would make a field visit in both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, he said.