Bengaluru, July 31 -- Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy criticised the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) for directing Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu without first assessing the prevailing conditions on the ground.

He asserted that members of the Authority should have personally visited both States, examined the ground situation, and only then arrived at an informed decision.

Addressing a press conference in Hassan on Friday morning, the Union Minister questioned the basis of the Authority's direction requiring Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water per day for the next 15 days to Tamil Nadu.

"The Authority has assumed that nearly 12 TMC of water will flow into the Cauvery basin reservoirs in the coming days. On what ...