CHENNAI: The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) on Friday directed Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water daily from its Cauvery basin reservoirs for 15 days from October 24. The direction was issued at the 145th meeting of the CWRC, held in New Delhi on Friday.
According to water resources department (WRD) officials, Tamil Nadu should have received 136.84 tmcft of water at Biligundulu between June 1 and October 21, as per the Supreme Court’s order dated February 16, 2018. However, Karnataka had released only 50.425 tmcft during the period, resulting in a shortfall of 86.415 tmcft.
TN told the committee that water demand had increased across the Cauvery delta and that farmers were facing severe hardship due to the continued shortfall in inflows at Biligundulu.
Karnataka, however, maintained that inflows into its reservoirs remained low due to a deficient southwest monsoon in the catchment areas downstream of its reservoirs. Pointing to the northeast monsoon rainfall in TN, it opposed any additional release, claiming that it did not have sufficient water even to meet drinking requirements.
Countering Karnataka’s arguments, TN urged the committee to direct the neighbouring state to release water in proportion to its allocated share without further delay.
After considering the submissions, the CWRC recommended that Karnataka release 3,000 cusecs daily at Biligundulu from October 24 to November 6.
Tamil Nadu objected to the recommendation, arguing that the quantum was far below its requirement. The recommendation was upheld at the 60th meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), held later on Friday.