The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed Karnataka to release 10,000 cusecs of water every day from the Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu. The apex court also directed the Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CMC) to hold a meeting to decide the amount of water from the river required by each state. A bench of Justices D.K. Jain and Madan B. Lokur said its interim order would continue till the CMC files its report and posted the case for further hearing on Monday. “CMC is requested to hold the meeting on December 6 or 7 to find out the water requirement for crops in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for the month of December and the report would be submitted to the concerned authority. In the meantime, we direct that till the CMC submits its report, Karnataka shall release 10,000 cusecs water per day from today. We make it clear that the order will continue till CMC submits its report,” the bench said. The bench said its immediate concern is to save crops that are allegedly dying because of lack of water and it would decide other issues later. “Both states are distressed and we have to see that we can save crops of both the states. We would keep our eyes open to the requirement of both the states and find a practical solution to the problem,” the bench observed. The apex court also asked the government to explain why the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal has not been notified by the government. The court gave its order on an interim application by Tamil Nadu for the release of additional water.
*** BAJRANG DAL MEN VANDALIsE U.P EXHIBITION age correspondent Lucknow, Dec. 5
Activists of the Bajrang Dal staged protests outside an exhibition showcasing wares from Pakistan and later vandalised the venue after a scuffle with some of the organisers in Kanpur on Tuesday evening. An exhibition of garments, jewellery and Pakistani clothes and accessories has been going on since the past few days at a hotel in Swaroop Nagar locality in Kanpur and has been drawing huge crowds. On Tuesday evening, a group of Bajrang Dal activists reached the venue and began shouting slogans against the organisers. An argument between the organisers and the Bajrang Dal activists culminated in a scuffle after which the Bajrang Dal members vandalised the venue. The national president of Bajrang Dal, Prakash Sharma, denied having any information about the incident since he was in Delhi. Interestingly, the local police also feigned complete ignorance about the incident which was shown live on some TV channels. “No one has filed a complaint so we have no knowledge about this,” said a senior police official. The organisers of the exhibition said that they did not wish to file a police complaint.
