30 tmc ft water released to Tamil Nadu: DK Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister and Irrigation Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday said that 30 TMC of water has been released to Tamil Nadu from Cauvery basin reservoirs till now. Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha and later at KRS, he said, “We are releasing 51,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu every day. We have released 30 TMC till now and if we release another 10 TMC, it will be in line with the quota in a normal rain month.” “As a precautionary measure, we have instructed officials to fill up all the 1,657 tanks in the Cauvery basin area. The agriculture minister has a target of sowing in 2 lakh hectares.

We have taken up many programmes for this sowing season including distribution of 5.90 lakh quintal seeds, stocking up of 27 lakh tonnes fertilizers and loan disbursals of Rs 25,000 crore loans to about 30 lakh farmers through cooperatives.

“Our government is committed to the welfare of the farming community. Cauvery Water Management Committee had asked us to release 20 TMC of water from July 11 to July 30, but we did not release the water as there was no water for farmers. We called an all-party meeting and discussed the issue,” he said.

Cauvery Aarti on Ganga Aarti lines

“Thanks to the blessings of Goddess Chamundeshwari, we have got an opportunity to offer ‘baagina’ to Cauvery. We are planning to start Cauvery aarti on the same lines as Ganga aarti in Varanasi. We will study the plan by forming a committee of 20 members from Cauvery basin area including MLAs and officials. We will identify the right location for Cauvery aarti. We will start this in a month’s time. The Muzrai department, Cauvery Neeravari Nigam and other departments will be involved in this,” he announced.

New Brindavan under PPP

“We are giving a new look to Cauvery Brindavan amusement park under the PPP model. This proposal will come up before the Cabinet in a couple of days. This project will create 8,000-10,000 jobs for the locals. We had approved the plan in the last budget but it was not rolled out. We will make arrangements for people to stay in the amusement park itself,” he revealed.

Asked what would happen to those who are already working in the Brindavan gardens currently, he said all those things will be worked out when the detailed plan is ready. The interests of the locals will be protected in the new project. The park will have a completely new design. The same name would be retained for the new park as well as it is our brand.”

Asked if the locals would be evicted to accommodate the new park, he said, “There is no question of eviction. The park will be limited to the current area. Only some lands in the middle may be acquired from the safety point of view. The technical committee would decide on that.”

Replying to a query on the cost of the project, he said, “We don’t know the proposal of the PPP partner. The quantum of investment will depend on the PPP partner’s plan.”

Asked if the trial blasts would be stopped in the interest of safety of the reservoir, he said, “There is no question of compromising on the safety of the dam. There are many places to secure stones but there is only one dam. The district in charge minister has brought many things to the attention of the Chief minister.”

Asked about Union Minister Kumaraswamy’s allegation that water was released to Tamil Nadu before the all-party meeting, he said, “We don’t have to respond to everyone who comments on these things. He needs publicity and hence he is talking about it. I don’t have that need and my only concern is the interest of the farmers and people.”

Replying to a query on continuing with Mekedatu project, he said, “I will not comment on that. Time will answer that question. We have a strong case and the Courts will decide it.”

Asked about the timing of ‘baagina’ for Cauvery, he said an auspicious date would be fixed after the session is over.

Replying to a query on increasing working hours of IT employees, he said, “You and I may oppose it. They work in different time zones for different clients. We will take a decision on this in an emergency meeting.”