NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a fresh plea seeking the reallocation of 70 TMC of Cauvery river water from Tamil Nadu’s share to Karnataka, observing that the matter concerns a dispute between the two states.
The court noted that both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are already parties to the proceedings before it and that the issue is currently pending consideration.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said, "If in such a dispute between two states, where both states are already litigating, we start hearing petitions from societies, there will be no end to it."
The bench refused to hear the demand for reallocation of 70 TMC water along with other prayers made in the petition.
Earlier, the Karnataka government had told the Supreme Court that it had released more than the stipulated quantity for Tamil Nadu till August 31 and was complying with the Cauvery Water Management Authority's (CWMA) direction to ensure flows of 9,000 cusecs.
On August 25, the CWMA had upheld the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's (CWRC) recommendation directing Karnataka to ensure flows of 9,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.
The Tamil Nadu government had earlier told the Supreme Court that it had informed the authority about the previous shortfall in water, but no direction was issued in this regard.
On August 17, the Supreme Court had asked Karnataka to ensure compliance with the CWMA's water release direction. Tamil Nadu says it is not getting its stipulated share of Cauvery water in a deficit rainfall year.
The Tamil Nadu government had approached the Supreme Court on August 3 seeking a direction to Karnataka for immediate release of water. The issue is pending before the SC for disposal.