Bengaluru, June 29 -- Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday said the state government will respond in accordance with the law to a petition challenging the holding of Cauvery Aarti near the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) dam.

"We will respond as per law, whatever it may be. Nobody is stopping people from praying and worshipping," Shivakumar told reporters, after the Karnataka High Court sought a formal response from the state on the matter.

On May 24 addressing a press conference, Shivakumar stated that decisions to organise the Cauvery Aarti on a grand scale have allocated funds to support the initiative.

Shivakumar announced that the government will launch a grand Cauvery Aarti program within 100 days. "This is a matter o...