The landmark Supreme Court verdict that largely upheld the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal’s 2007 award for equitable sharing of water, gave Tamil Nadu a haircut and a windfall for Karnataka. Its CM Siddaramaiah can now be expected to milk it as the Assembly polls are due in a few months.
The court saw merit in the argument that Bengaluru’s drinking water needs were not adequately addressed by the tribunal. In view of its “global status”, the court allocated Karnataka 4.75 tmcft more. It shaved off another 10 tmcft from Tamil Nadu’s 2007 award share and gave it to Karnataka, saying TN can bridge the gap by extracting the same quantity of groundwater.
While doing so, it chose to go with the “confirmatory empirical data” that suggested TN’s Cauvery basin has 20 tmcft groundwater, which the tribunal treated as “conjecture” and chose to ignore. In all, Karnataka was given 14.75 tmcft over and above the 2007 award of 270 tmcft on a normal rainfall year, and was not penalised for flouting the interim orders of releasing 2,000 cusecs each day.
Karnataka’s gain was Tamil Nadu’s loss, as it is now entitled to only 177.25 tmcft at the Billigundlu point as against 192 tmcft awarded by the tribunal. No wonder, TN’s farmers and the political class are disappointed and are looking at options for remedy, though the verdict wants the formula frozen for at least 15 years. On the flip side, the Court set a six-week timeline for the Centre to develop a mechanism for making its decision functional.
It means Karnataka can no longer duck its responsibility of releasing water every month as directed by the Court. While TN could be justified in feeling let down, the state hardly ever got the full quantum mandated under the 2007 award. So, even if TN is assured of the 177.25 tmcft allotted by the Court now, it would go a long way in addressing farm distress. For that to happen, the monitoring mechanism must be set up immediately, and the formula enforced impartially.