NEW DELHI: The Cauvery Water Management Authority has rejected Tamil Nadu government’s demand to direct the Karnataka government to release 3.6 TMC deficit of Cauvery water to the state. The CWMA endorsed the direction of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) directing that there is no further requirement to release water to Tamil Nadu as Karnataka is facing a severe water crisis.
At the 29th meeting of CWMA, Ministry of Jalshakti officials heard the submissions from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments against the order of the 94th CWRC meeting held on March 21. The CWRC rejected Tamil Nadu’s demand for releasing more water from Karnataka as the irrigation season in Tamil Nadu has already ended and TN reservoirs have enough water to meet its drinking water demand, whereas Karnataka has been facing water crisis.
As per the CWDT order, the Karnataka government needs to maintain environmental flow of 2.5 TMC per month from February onwards. For this, Karnataka released at least 5 TMC water in February and March at the interstate Biligundulu point. However, the flow noticed at Biligundlu point was around 1.4 TMC in the past two months instead of the stipulated 5 TMC.
Hence, the Tamil Nadu government sought an instruction to Karnataka to ensure the release of deficit 3.6 TMC as per the CWDT order. CWMA Secretary T D Sharma said, "The water crisis in Karnataka’s cities is at its peak and this should be addressed first."
Karnataka said the water available in four designated storages is around 29.903 TMC, which is just sufficient to meet the critical requirements of water for drinking, industries, and standing crops. However, the TN officials said the water availability in Karnataka’s reservoirs was more than enough. The authority advised both parties to make judicious use of water in the reservoirs of Cauvery Basin to meet requirements.