"The Cabinet has decided to defer release of water," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters in a brief statement after an emergency Cabinet meeting which was preceded by an all-party and council of ministers meetings during the day.
Siddaramaiah said the cabinet decided to convene the special session of the state legislature on September 23 in the backdrop of the apex court order yesterday, ordering Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water till September 27 from today.
The Cauvery Supervisory Committee had on September 19 asked Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs per day from September 21 to 30 but the apex court had yesterday doubled the quantum to 6,000 cusecs from September 21 to 27 after Tamil Nadu pressed for water to save its samba paddy crop.
On September 5, the court had ordered release of 15,000 cusecs of water for the next 10 days to address the plight of the farmers in Tamil Nadu.
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A bench of justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit had also
asked the Centre to constitute within four weeks, theCauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) as directed by theCauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in its award.
The all-party meeting was boycotted by principal Opposition BJP which criticised the Siddaramaiah government for not taking any specific decision keeping the interests of farmers in mind despite holding all-party meetings earlier.
BJP union ministers from Karnataka had conveyed their inability to attend the meet because of the union cabinet meeting, Siddaramaiah said.
"In the backdrop of the interim order of the Honourable Supreme Court dated 20-09-2016, government had today called an all-party meeting and discussed the matter in detail. In the all-party meeting it was unanimously decidedto call the joint session of the state legislature.
"In this background, the Cabinet has decided torequest his Excellency the Governor to call a session of both the houses of the legislature on 23-09-2016 at 11 am.