Belgaum: Karnataka has stopped release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from Sunday, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said here yesterday. The water had to be released, though the state was suffering drought, to avoid legal complications as the Supreme Court had directed the release, Shettar told the assembly, meeting in this north Karnataka town, about 500km from Bangalore. Following his statement, the opposition Congress and Janata Dal-Secular called off sit-in protest in the house which they had started last Thursday to press their demand that Cauvery water should not be released at any cost. Shettar said the state has petitioned the Supreme Court and the Cauvery River Authority, which is headed by the prime minister, against the Cauvery Monitoring Committee’s (CMC) order that Karnataka should release 30 TMC feet of water to Tamil Nadu in December.IANS
