Cauvery water issue: Farmers' agitation indicates failure of K'taka Govt., says DMK

Chennai [India], Sept. 12 (ANI): With the states governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu set to meet with Cauvery Supervisory Committee today over the Cauvery water issue, due to which the state of Karnataka saw massive protests and agitation in recent days, senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader TKS Elangovan said that the agitation in the sates indicates the failure of state government. "No government should allow the farmers to agitate. Before hand the state government should have taken a stand. They should have approached, they should have met the government in Karnataka and should have sought a solution over this," Elangovan told ANI. He further said that the Karnataka government was sleeping for a long time and had reacted when the farmers came on to the street to protest. "They should have acted earlier so that the problem would not have gone to the streets. So, it is the failure of the state government," he added. Siddaramaiah on Thursday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to call a meeting of chief ministers of states concerned to resolve the Cauvery water dispute following the Supreme Court's direction to release water from the river to Tamil Nadu. The apex court last Monday, directed the Karnataka government to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu for the next 10 days to ameliorate the plight of farmers. The Cauvery Supervisory Committee, headed by Union Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar, will today meet in New Delhi to decide on the quantum of Cauvery river water to be released to Tamil Nadu and other states. As per sources, the Committee would strictly adhere to the final order of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal while deciding on the quantum of the water to be released to Tamil Nadu and other states as directed by the Supreme Court. The apex court will next hear the matter on September 16. (ANI)