Bengaluru citizens' group moves SC to intervene in Cauvery case

September 21, 2016

New Delhi, Sep 21: A citizens' group led by philanthropist Kiran Mazumdar Shaw today moved the Supreme Court seeking intervention in the ongoing legal battle between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over distribution of Cauvery water and protection of drinking water rights of residents of Bengaluru and surrounding districts.

kiranbiaconNoting that it was a dispute between two states, an apex court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said it would decide whether the citizens' group can be allowed to intervene in the matter on the next date of hearing.

"We will hear you on September 27, the next date of hearing of the main petition," the bench, also comprising Justice U U Lalit, said.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC) in which Shaw is President and Mohandas Pai the Vice President, said the citizens of Bengaluru need adequate drinking water and their right to life needed to be protected by this court.

Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, opposed the submission saying these kind of pleas cannot be entertained in an inter-state dispute of this nature.

"That the present application is being filed by the applicant in the aftermath of the violence that took place in the city of Bengaluru, since the applicant is of the belief that there are extra-ordinary circumstances in the city and its adjoining areas which needs to be addressed through the intervention of this Hon'ble Court," the BPAC plea said.

"There is an acute drinking water problem in the city of Bengaluru and certain other districts of South Karnataka. The annual requirement of Bengaluru city alone is more than 19 TMC of water to be supplied to the citizens by the authorities of the State of Karnataka. The annual drinking water requirements of the Cauvery basin districts including the Bengaluru is roughly about 26 TMC (approximately)," it said.

The apex court today asked Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu from tomorrow till September 27. Yesterday, the Cauvery Supervisory Committee had asked Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu.

BPAC, in its plea filed through lawyer Aparna Bhat, said "the southwest monsoon for the year 2016-17 has miserably failed over most parts of Karnataka and especially in the catchment areas of the Cauvery River. The lack of rainfall is also evident by the reservoir levels in the major reservoirs of the Cauvery basin in Karnataka, which have a huge shortfall of inflows, and thereby the drastic decrease in the storage capacities of the respective reservoirs."

"The approximate live storage of Karnataka's reservoirs (Harangi, Hemavathi, K.R.S and Kabini) as on 16.09.2016 is only 28.77 TMC as against the total drinking water requirements of Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya and other Cauvery basin districts which is 26 TMC (approximately)," it said.

If further releases are made to Tamil Nadu, then there would not be enough water available in these reservoirs for supply to the citizens of Bengaluru and other towns, it said.

"This is indeed an alarming situation which requires urgent attention of the relevant authorities, and it is also the need of the hour that the present scenario is brought to the notice of this court," the plea said.

Comments

PK
 - 
Wednesday, 21 Sep 2016

Please madam ,,, let them (tamil nadu) use a little bit of what God given us (Karnataka) ...

When we Give, God will increase our resources... so please stop your fame works....

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News Network
February 28,2020

The Karnataka BJP, which faced action on Twitter earlier this month over incendiary tweets, this time has passed the blame of Sangh Parivar sponsored Delhi violence to the victims.

In an insensitive tweet on Friday, it dubbed the protests against the notorious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as "fake" and added that the violence that followed was "the most well-planned assault on the Idea of India," in an apparent attempt to portray the victims as villains.

The handle, notorious for tweets targeting Muslims, blamed the clashes that erupted in Delhi between people demonstrating for and against the CAA on "so called 'Peacefuls'" - a known right-wing slur for Muslims.

Many people on social media called out the tweet for misleading people and covering up the role of Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra's provocative speech for triggering the violence or the failure of the Delhi Police, which reports to the former BJP chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in controlling the riots.

Earlier this month, the Karnataka BJP had tweeted a video of Muslim women standing in queue to vote in the Delhi elections, showing their voter ID cards, with the snarky caption: "Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during NPR (National Population Register) exercise."

Soon after, the party unit's Twitter handle was blocked by the social media platform for 24 hours after many accused it of encouraging Islamophobia.

NPR has been widely criticised by opposition parties as a precursor to the government's planned NRC or National Register of Citizens which intends to make Indians prove their citizenship with documents that many poor or illiterate do not possess.

Many fear that combined with the already imposed CAA - which promises citizenship to only non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh - the NRC can be used to make millions of Muslims stateless.

The government has denied the allegation and said the CAA only intends to help those who have faced religious persecution. In recent weeks, it has gone back on its rhetoric on the NRC which was announced by Amit Shah in parliament as "it will certainly happen".

The CAA, which was cleared by parliament in December, has triggered deadly protests in the country which left at least 25 dead till Sunday. Since then, at least 42 more people have been killed as large-scale violence erupted in northeast Delhi and hundreds of homes and shops have been burned to the ground.

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coastaldigest.com news network
February 29,2020

Mangaluru, Feb 29: The state general assembly (SGA) of Karnataka unit of the Popular Front of India was held from February 27 to 29, 2020 at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district wherein new functionaries were elected for the next two years.

Yasir Hasan was elected president of the state unit of the organisation while Nasir Pasha was elected general secretary. Ayub K Agnady, Mohammed Sharief and Shahid Nasir were elected vice president, secretary and treasurer respectively.

The state executive committee members are: Abdul Khader, Abdul Majeed, Sharief Kodaje and Mohammed Tafseer.

The SAG commenced with the hoisting of flag by outgoing president Muhammad Saqib on February 27. The three day meeting analyzed the growth and activities of the PFI for the past two years. It was observed that the organization has received positive acceptance among the society.

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News Network
April 29,2020

Newsroom, Apr 29: Abdul Rahman Al Sudais, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah has hinted that Muslims will be allowed to perform prayers again at the holiest mosque after a few days. 

Al Sudais, who is also the president of the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, predicted this while answering a question from a reporter about the possibility of having worshippers gather again at the mosque.

He said that soon people will be allowed to return to the mosque for prayers and for circumambulation around the holy Kaaba.

The authorities care about people more than anything else, he said. "All Muslims should pray to Allah to help us through this pandemic. People must be careful and take necessary precautions to protect themselves and others," he added.

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