Release of water to TN "inevitable", Karna govt    

Bengaluru, Sept 7 (PTI) As Karnataka began release ofCauvery water to Tamil Nadu amid snowballing protests byfarmers, the government today said it was "inevitable" for itto comply with the Supreme Court order even though the stateitself was facing "serious distress".  The Supreme Court would be moved seeking modification ofits order to spare 15,000 cusecs of water for 10 days becauseof the difficulties in implementing it given that the livestorage in four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin now was 46.7TMC ft against their capacity of 104 TMC ft, the governmentsaid. "It is inevitable for Karnataka to comply with theSupreme Court order in the interest of the state," topgovernment sources said, adding, "constitutionally, it is notpossible to defy it".     Officials confirmed that water was being let out sincemidnight last night, shortly after the all party meetingcalled by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who said the decisionto obey the Supreme Court order has been taken with "a heavyheart" even though the state itself faced "severe distress".     The present live storage is 45 per cent against the livestorage of 104 TMCFT in the Krishnaraja Sagar, Harangi,Hemavathi and Kabini reservoirs, the sources pointed out.     The legal and technical teams of Karnataka would work outthe extent of change that the state should seek in the quantumof water release stipulated in the Supreme Court directionwhich asked Karnataka to provide 15,000 cusecs for 10 days.     The Cauvery Supervisory Committee, which has replaced theCauvery River Authority to implement the order of thetribunal, would also be apprised of the difficulties.     Sources said the Supervisory Committee would visit boththe riparian states to assess the "ground realities" and canadjust the current release of water against future releases. Fending off the criticism of the legal team headed byFali Nariman, the sources defended it, stating their advice onrelease was made so that the state succeeds when the mainpetition comes up for hearing before the court on October 18.   "It (main petition) is very important for the state. Wehave to succeed. The Supreme Court also asked Karnataka tolive and let live. We cannot say no to it," the sources said.MORE PTI RA RCDV