NEW DELHI: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Karnataka was usurping all the Cauvery River water, causing it to lose the Purvai crop, and early Kharif crop, whereas Karnataka claimed that it was facing a “terrible drought-like situation”.
The submissions were made before a bench of justices Vikram Nath, Augustine George Masih, and Sandeep Mehta, which asked the Karnataka government to respond to Tamil Nadu's plea seeking release of its share of the Cauvery River water, alleging a shortfall in supply.
During the hearing, the Tamil Nadu government’s counsel told the bench that the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) must pass an order with regard to the shortfall to address the deficit.
To that, the bench asked, "What is the shortfall?"
"20 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) is a shortfall according to us. According to them, it’s 16 TMC," senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, replied.
He added that the state has already lost crops due to lack of water.
"We have already lost Purvai crop, a late Kharif crop, because of lack of water. We are only seeking enforcement of the award, which requests proportional release. I just get 50.5% I am not getting that," he added.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the Karnataka government, said they were complying with the directions of the CWMA on the release of water. "We are complying with whatever directions have been passed despite the fact that this is a drought year.”
“CWMA is an expert body. It knows exactly what’s happening. This is a hands off approach. There is a 15 day periodic monitoring. This is a difficult situation for us but we are complying with it. Now that monsoon is on retreat, there is very little chance of rain. Whereas they (TN) will have the advantage of the north east monsoon. CWMA has considered this. This matter should not move forward over here,” Divan said.
The top court asked Karnataka to file a response to Tamil Nadu's application within a week and posted the matter for hearing on October 12.
