NEW DELHI: The Karnataka government told the Supreme Court on Monday that it will be difficult for it to meet Tamil Nadu’s demand for 11 tmcft of Cauvery water to make up for the “shortfall”, as this is a rain-deficit year and several areas have been declared drought-affected.
But the Tamil Nadu government contended that it is only seeking its legitimate pro-rata share in the flows, together with the backlog. The entire burden of meteorological and hydrological distress cannot be passed on to the lower riparian state, while Karnataka continues to utilise the available storage and inflows for irrigation and other requirements, it stated.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Aapresh Kumar Singh reserved its decision on Tamil Nadu’s fresh application, seeking directions to Karnataka to clear the backlog of 11 tmcft of Cauvery water as on October 7 and 1.3 tmcft per day in 10 days as measured at Biligundlu.
Appearing for Karnataka, senior advocate Shyam Divan said it has been a difficult year and several areas have been declared drought-hit. “We have to ensure conservation of water so that the drinking water supply is not affected,” he said.
Divan said Tamil Nadu receives the northeast monsoon in November, when its reservoirs will be replenished, while it will not help Karnataka.
“Every distress year, this has been the problem,” he said, adding that the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) applied its mind properly at its 59th meeting on October 8, where it directed Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water from October 9 for the next 15 days.
Arguing for Tamil Nadu, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi told the court that Karnataka should be directed to release the shortfall, else crops in Tamil Nadu will be affected.
The bench asked how can the backlog be cleared when there was scarcity of rainfall this year and both the states were affected. “Had it been a normal year, things would have been different,” Justice Nath observed. Rohatgi said this cannot wait for another year as farmers in Tamil Nadu are facing a tough time and the court should at least make some interim arrangement.
The Tamil Nadu government said at a meeting held on September 24, the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) found that the flow realised at Biligundlu should have been 52.935 tmcft, but there is a shortfall.
“In spite of noting the said deficit, the CWRC did not take any decision with regard to directing Karnataka to make good the shortfall and proceeded to reduce the flows from 6,000 cusecs to 4,000 cusecs. The CWRC directed Karnataka to ensure releases from its reservoirs so that 4,000 cusecs are received at Biligundlu in the next 15 days (effective September 24),” it said.
Even then, Karnataka did not adhere to the CWRC’s directions, it added.
It pointed out that Tamil Nadu’s share in this distress year has to be decided on a pro-rata basis, but CWMA, even after eight years since constitution, has failed to formulate the distress formula, which will calculate the water to be shared during distress years, without any ambiguity or unfair treatment to a particular state.
Water directed to be released by CWMA -- 4,000 cusecs at Biligundlu for 15 days starting September 24 and 3,000 cusecs from October 9 -- is grossly inadequate and does not redress the substantial backlog.
The Tamil Nadu government said that on October 8, CWRC did not take any decision on directing Karnataka to make good the shortfall and proceeded to reduce the flows from 4,000 cusecs to 3,000 cusecs effective October 9. On September 24, the Karnataka government should respond to Tamil Nadu’s plea seeking the release of its share of Cauvery water, the court said.
The Tamil Nadu government approached the apex court on August 3, seeking directions to Karnataka for the immediate release of the water.