The Karnataka Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution to use Cauvery water only for drinking needs and not spare it for any other purpose. Earlier in the day, a resolution asking the government to use the water only to meet drinking needs was moved at a special session of the Karnataka Assembly, implying that the state cannot comply with the latest Supreme Court direction to release water to Tamil Nadu. Highlighting the “state of acute distress”, the resolution, endorsed by all parties, said it was “imperative” that the government ensures that no water from the present storages be drawn “save and except” for meeting drinking water needs of villages and towns in the Cauvery basin and Bengaluru. Watch what else is making newsThe interests of the inhabitants of the state are likely to be gravely jeopardised if water in the four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin was in anyway reduced other than for meeting the drinking water needs of the people in the Cauvery basin, including the entire city of Bengaluru, it said. It had also directed the Centre to constitute within four weeks the Cauvery Water Management Board as directed by Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in its award.

Source: Indian Express September 23, 2016 13:52 UTC