Release of water not enough to raise samba crop: TN BJP

Coimbatore, Sep 8: BJP's Tamil Nadu unit today said although the release of Cauvery water to the state by Karnataka as per the directive of the Supreme Court, came as a relief, it was not adequate to raise samba crops.

"The release of water from Cauvery following the Supreme Court order, though came as a relief, it is not enough to raise samba crops," party state President Tamilisai Soundararajan told reporters here.

Karnataka had started releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from yesterday, complying with the Supreme Court directive to release 15,000 cusecs per day for 10 days.

Tamilisai said though Tamil Nadu has equal rights on Cauvery water, the state was in a "peculiar" situation that it has to get the water through legal process. The state government should convene an all party meeting to discuss and find a solution to the vexed issue, she said. The agitations in various parts of Karnataka in the wake of the Supreme Court directive were against national spirit, she said.

Following the agitations, people in both the states were put to a lot of hardship as inter-state buses were not plying, she said. She said BJP has never extended support to the Kerala government's proposal to construct a dam across Siruvani river.

PTI