Karnataka terms Tamil Nadu's plea on Cauvery water dispute 'wholly misconceived'
New Delhi (PTI): The Karnataka government has described as "wholly misconceived" Tamil Nadu's plea seeking a direction from the Supreme Court that it be asked to release 24,000 cusecs of Cauvery water daily for standing crops.
The Karnataka government, in an affidavit filed in the top court, has said Tamil Nadu's plea was based on an incorrect assumption that "the current water year is a normal water year and not a distressed water year".
Rainfall has been 25 per cent lower and the water inflow into Karnataka's four reservoirs 42.5 per cent lesser, the affidavit said, adding that the stipulated release shall not be applicable this year.
According to the affidavit, Karnataka said the southwest monsoon has largely failed so far during the current water year.
Due to the same, a "distress condition" has arisen in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka.
"Karnataka, therefore, is not obliged to and it cannot be compelled to ensure water as per the stipulated relief is prescribed for the normal year," the affidavit stated.
The top court is scheduled to hear Tamil Nadu's plea on Friday.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had earlier said that a fresh bench will be set up to hear the decades-old dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over sharing of the Cauvery's water.
Appearing for Tamil Nadu, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi had said an application was filed by the state seeking the release of water for August that has been ordered by the Cauvery Water Management Authority.
Rohatgi had told the apex court that a bench would have to be constituted to hear the matter.
On August 11, Tamil Nadu said it had no other option but to approach the apex court to get its genuine share of the Cauvery's water.
It had contended that in a change of stand, Karnataka was prepared to release only a reduced quantum of 8,000 cusecs (cubic foot per second) every day.
Referring to the deliberations of the Cauvery Water Management Authority in Delhi in August, Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan had said the requirement for the Cauvery's water was emphatically put forth by state officials.
"However, Karnataka as usual changed its stand and categorically said that it could only release 8,000 cusecs and that too only till August 22," he had said.
The minister had said it was unanimously decided at a meeting of the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee on August 10 that 15,000 cusecs per day would be released by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.
"Hence, the Tamil Nadu government has no other option but to approach the Supreme Court. Soon, a case will be filed in the apex court. Justice will win and we will get water and Chief Minister MK Stalin-led government is determined to get water," he had said.
The combined storage capacity of the four dams in Karnataka is 114.571 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet) and it has 93.535 tmc ft storage, which is about 82 per cent, the minister had said.
Duraimurugan had alleged that Karnataka does not "have a heart" to share water with Tamil Nadu though it had enough water.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
