TN urges urgent Cauvery release, Supreme Court to hear plea Thursday
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea by the Tamil Nadu government seeking an early hearing of its application in the long-standing Cauvery water dispute with Karnataka. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant listed the state's application for hearing on Thursday, August 13.
Appearing before the Chief Justice, senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan, for Tamil Nadu, highlighted the deficit in the allocation of river water and said farmers in the state were in a perilous situation. The state government has sought a judicial direction to Karnataka to implement a Central Water Management Authority (CWMA) decision of July 30, which recommended the release of 3,500 cusecs of water for 15 days from Karnataka's Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagara reservoirs.
The Tamil Nadu government, headed by Chief Minister Joseph Vijay, has asked for the release of 4.536 TMC (at the rate of 3,500 cusecs for 15 days) on or before August 12. The application, finalised by Mr. Vaidyanathan and senior advocate G. Umapathy and drafted by advocate Tushar Nair, was filed by advocate-on-record B. Karunakaran.
In its application, Tamil Nadu has also urged the court to direct the CWMA to issue a direction to Karnataka to make good, on a pro-rata basis, the shortfall at the inter-State point of Billigundulu for the period from June 1 to August 12. This, according to the state, would require the release of 26.954 TMC of water forthwith. The state has also sought an order for the CWMA to monitor the flows in Karnataka's reservoirs every 10 days to ensure stipulated monthly and daily releases at Billigundulu.
The state submitted that Karnataka had continued to not comply with the orders of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, except for a few instances when there were inevitable surpluses in reservoirs due to floods. A review of the hydrometeorological condition in the Cauvery basin on July 30 endorsed the July 28 recommendations of the Cauvery Water Regulations Committee (CWRC) to release water from Krishna Raja Sagara and Kabini reservoirs at 3,500 cusecs from July 29 for 15 days.
Tamil Nadu argued that even if Karnataka ensured flows of 3,500 cusecs for 15 days, it would get only 4.536 TMC, leaving a backlog of 5.379 TMC as per the pro-rata assessment of distress as on July 28. If the inflows into Karnataka's four major reservoirs against the 30-year average up to August 3 are considered, the pro-rata ratio works out to 46.34%. Based on this ratio, the flows due from June 1 to August 12 would be 26.95 TMC. The direction given by the CWRC and CWMA is only for 4.536 TMC, which the state said is far less than the quantum of water due under the distress proportion.
Despite the CWRC/CWMA interventions, the total flows realised at Billigundulu from July 29 to August 2 were only in the range of 158 to 530 cusecs, Tamil Nadu contended. It further stated that as of August 3, Karnataka had a gross storage of 77.537 TMC in KRS, Kabini, Harangi, and Hemavathy reservoirs. This increase in live storage, the state argued, was due to recent heavy rainfall in the catchment areas upstream of Kabini and KRS. Thus, Karnataka, despite having adequate storage, has failed to comply with the directions of the CWMA.
The Cauvery water dispute is one of India's most contentious inter-state river conflicts, with a history spanning over a century. The Supreme Court, in a 2018 verdict, allocated 177.25 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu, 270 TMC to Karnataka, and the remaining to Kerala and Puducherry. The CWMA and CWRC were constituted to oversee the implementation of the tribunal's award and the Supreme Court's directions, ensuring that releases are made in accordance with the agreed schedules.
The Supreme Court's decision on Thursday will be crucial for Tamil Nadu's farmers, who are depending on the timely release of water for the ongoing cultivation season. The case also underscores the challenges of managing shared river resources in the backdrop of changing monsoon patterns and increasing demand.
