NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu approached the Supreme Court on Monday seeking an order directing Karnataka to release its outstanding 11 tmcft of Cauvery water. The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Apares Kumar Singh, however, reserved its decision on TN’s fresh plea, seeking directions to Karnataka to make sure that the backlog of water as on October 7 is cleared immediately.
Appearing on behalf of TN, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued that this year has been a sad year with insufficient rainfall. As Karnataka has not released water as per the SC order, crops are being affected.
The Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee meet every two weeks to decide how much water Karnataka should release to TN for a fortnight.
However, they have not issued orders directing Karnataka to release water to TN. Since July, Karnataka has owed TN 11 tmcft of water. It is imperative for Karnataka to release this outstanding water to protect the crops. To make up for this remaining water, Karnataka should release an additional tmcft of water per day.
In the 59th meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Commission on October 8, Karnataka was directed to release 3000 cubic feet of water per second to TN for 15 days. As per the SC verdict, in a normal year, Karnataka should release 177 tmcft of water to TN per year. If it is a miserable year with no rainfall, then some percent will be reduced and the water will be released on a proportional basis.