Cauvery water row: Karnataka CM D.K. Shivakumar asks his Tamil Nadu counterpart Vijay to defer his visit to Bengaluru
Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has appealed to his Tamil Nadu counterpart Joseph Vijay to postpone his visit to the State in view of the
Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has appealed to his Tamil Nadu counterpart Joseph Vijay to postpone his visit to the State in view of the recent order by Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) regarding the river’s water regulation and the prevailing situation. “The atmosphere is not right at this point of time,” Mr. Shivakumar said, addressing a press meet. On Thursday (July 30, 2026), CWMA rejected Karnataka’s appeal against the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) order and directed it to release water at the rate of 3,500 cusecs daily to Tamil Nadu from July 29 for the next 15 days. Citing the order, Mr. Shivakumar said, “I feel that the atmosphere is not right at this point of time. I am appealing to him (Mr. Vijay) to postpone the visit for some time because we should have a very cordial atmosphere.
I want both states to benefit from it,” he said. “I do not want any hard feelings between the two of us... It all depends upon the rain god,” he said. Chairing a meeting to review the Cauvery water situation in the state, Mr. Shivakumar said, “It is my duty to protect the interests of the State. As soon as the order came, we appealed against it. (Deputy CM) Dr. Parameshwar and I even met with the MPs and Ministers in Delhi,” he said, “Tamil Nadu had requested 9.94 tmcft of water to be released as part of the distress formula. However, the CWRC ordered us to give half that quantum at 4.5 tmcft. With the CWMA upholding that order, I have now invited all Karnataka leaders for an all-party meeting to be held on August 2 (Sunday),” the CM added.
Good rainfall The Chief Minister noted that Karnataka had received good rainfall over the last three years, which had helped it meet its water-sharing obligations comfortably. “Over the last three years, we have been fortunate to receive very good rainfall. In fact, last year witnessed exceptionally heavy rains of a historic scale. We performed the Cauvery Puja at the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) dam along with our senior leaders, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. I also participated in the Cauvery Aarti,” Shivakumar said. He said the good rainfall had benefited both people and agriculture, and far more water had flowed to Tamil Nadu than required. “People were happy, the rainfall was good, and agriculture also benefited. Instead of releasing around 177 TMC of water, nearly 400 TMC flowed to Tamil Nadu.
The BriefWire