CHENNAI: The government on Wednesday urged the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to direct Karnataka to release Cauvery water in accordance with the Supreme Court’s 2018 judgment.
At the 53rd CWMA meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, Water Resources Department Principal Secretary Satyabrata Sahoo said Tamil Nadu had received only 3.442 tmcft at Biligundlu between June 1 and July 19 against the mandated 28.337 tmcft, leaving a deficit of 24.896 tmcft.
Karnataka cited poor rainfall and drinking water needs, particularly for Bengaluru. The CWMA decided that the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) would determine the pro-rata water share at its July 28 meeting.
Meanwhile, DMK president M K Stalin on Thursday asked six questions to CM C Joseph Vijay over the government’s handling of the Cauvery water sharing dispute. In a statement on X, Stalin questioned why the CM had not taken up the state’s demand with Prime Minister Narendra Modi despite the CWMA repeatedly rejecting the state’s requests for water release.
He also asked what the state’s water resources minister had done to secure Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water and why the government has not openly confronted the Karnataka government over its refusal to release water.
Stalin further asked why an all-party meeting had not been convened to discuss the issue and asked when the leaders of all political parties would jointly meet the PM to submit the Tamil Nadu Assembly’s resolution against the proposed Mekedatu dam. Stalin also sought to know when the government would announce a relief package for distressed farmers in the Cauvery Delta.
Meanwhile, PMK president Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, in a statement on Thursday, criticised the CWMA for refusing Tamil Nadu’s request to direct Karnataka to release water to save the kuruvai crop in the Cauvery delta districts. He urged the Tamil Nadu government to press the centre to set up a strong Cauvery Management Board with powers to control reservoir operations, as recommended by the Cauvery Tribunal. He called Karnataka’s claim on drinking water needs “incorrect”, saying that four major Cauvery reservoirs in Karnataka together has over 60 tmcft of water.
