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Karnataka Today newsletter: State to appeal recommendation to release Cauvery water to TN, and more

A day after the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) recommended the release of 5,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, Karnataka has decided to appeal citing the poor quantum of storage in four reservoirs owing to a record deficit rainfall in August. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who holds the Water Resources portfolio, will meet the legal team in Delhi on September 13 night before the Karnataka government takes any decision on release of water.

On September 13, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah chaired an emergency all-party meeting in Bengaluru to inform the opposition about the developments and elicit their feedback. In August 2023, the Cauvery basin in Karnataka recorded the least rainfall in the last 125 years. While the forecast for the requirement of Cauvery water in Karnataka till next monsoon was about 106 TMC, the current availability is 53 TMC.

While asking people not to panic about the outbreak of Nipah in Kozhikode in Kerala, the Karnataka government has directed officials of Dakshina Kannada and other districts bordering Kerala to strengthen fever surveillance. Only those with fever, who have travel history to Kozhikode, and have come in direct contact with a person who tested positive for Nipah, should be considered as potentially vulnerable to the infection, the government stated.

The State Disease Surveillance officers have asked officials of Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Hassan and other districts to send samples (throat swab, urine, blood) of only potentially vulnerable people for testing at National Institute of Virology (NIV), Bengaluru.

Bengaluru Central Crime Branch police arrested right-wing activist Chaitra Kundapura on September 12, on the charge of cheating Govinda Babu Poojary, a BJP ticket aspirant and businessperson who runs Cheftalk Nutri Foods Private Limited, among other hospitality and catering businesses in Bengaluru.

The Hindutva activist, along with seven others, had allegedly taken ₹5 crore from Mr. Poojary, a native of Byndoor in Udupi district, after promising to get him the BJP ticket for Byndoor Assembly constituency. Chaitra was arrested on September 12 near Udupi Krishna mutt.

Around 4.47 lakh traffic rule violations were among the 24.36 lakh cases to be amicably settled in the national-level Lok Adalats organised by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) across the State on September 9.