Karnataka tells SC it is complying with 9,000-cusec Cauvery water release order

The Karnataka government has told the Supreme Court that it has released excess water to Tamil Nadu as of Monday (August 31) and the state is complying with the direction of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to ensure a flow of 9,000 cusecs.

On August 25, the CWMA upheld the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's (CWRC) recommendation directing Karnataka to ensure a flow of 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.

The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.

Senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan, appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, told the bench that they had pointed to the Authority about the backlog of water but no direction was passed in this regard.

‘Complying with CWMA direction’: Karnataka

"We are complying (with the CWMA direction) as of today," senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the Karnataka government, said.

Divan said according to the August 25 direction, 9,000 cusecs water was to be released and on the first day, Karnataka released 10,727 cusecs.

"On August 30, 9,888 cusecs (of water) was released and as of 8 am today, 11,547 cusecs was released," he said, adding, "We have released water in excess amount as of today."

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The top court was hearing the Tamil Nadu government's plea seeking directions to the Karnataka government for immediate release of the water to it. During the hearing, Vaidyanathan said earlier that Karnataka was directed to release 12,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days from August 12, and it has now been reduced to 9,000 cusecs without any reason.

"You want water. They (Karnataka) are releasing. The decision of CWMA has to be challenged," the bench told Vaidyanathan.

Divan said Karnataka has recently declared severe drought in some of the areas that include the districts which fall within the Cauvery basin.

"There should be some consideration by some authority as to why my backlog should not be cleared," Vaidyanathan argued.

Next hearing on Sept 15

The bench was informed that the CWRC was reviewing the situation every 15 days.

The top court posted the matter on September 15 and asked the parties to place on record the updated data. It said parties may also place on record further development that may take place in the meantime.

The bench noted that the CWRC was meeting every 15 days and passing appropriate orders after hearing the parties.

Also Read: Cauvery row: SC asks Karnataka to comply with CWMA's directions on water release to TN

While hearing the matter on August 24, the apex court had told the Tamil Nadu government that they can raise before the CWMA their grievance concerning release of proportionate share of Cauvery water from Karnataka.

The CWRC had earlier directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days from August 12. The CWMA had subsequently upheld the decision. On August 17, the apex court had asked Karnataka to ensure compliance of the CWMA direction on the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

TN govt’s earlier plea

The Tamil Nadu government had earlier said the state was not getting its due share of Cauvery water in a rain-deficient year. The Joseph Vijay-led state government on August 3 approached the apex court seeking directions to the Karnataka government for immediate release of the water.

The state government, in its plea, claimed that the quantum allocated to it by the CWRC as well as that released by its neighbour Karnataka was very less.

A CWRC meeting on July 28 directed Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs for 15 days starting July 29. However, the quantum of water released at Biligundlu ranged between 158 and 550 cusecs from July 29 to August 2, the state government said.

Also Read: Cauvery row: SC to hear TN's plea on water release tomorrow

A press release issued by the Tamil Nadu government said that as of August 3, the combined total storage in the reservoirs in Karnataka - KRS, Kabini, Harangi and Hemavathy - stood at 77.537 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) and Karnataka would face no difficulty in releasing Tamil Nadu's due share proportionately.

Following rains in the catchment areas in the KRS and Kabini dams in Karnataka recently, the proportionate water to be realised at Biligundlu should be 26.954 TMC, it said.

"Accordingly, the Cauvery Water Management Authority order allocating 4.536 TMC is very less," the release added.

Karnataka has "failed" to share with Tamil Nadu its due share of water and the quantum was 26.954 TMC, the press release said.

(With agency inputs)