The Supreme Court on Monday sought a status report in respect of release of Cauvery water by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu even as the upper riparian State claimed it maintained the flow of 12,000 cusecs of water despite extremely distress year.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta asked the Karnataka government to comply with the directions of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA). The court posted the matter for consideration on Monday. The case arose out of an application filed by Tamil Nadu seeking implementation of the CWMA's direction on release water.
Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, appearing for Tamil Nadu claimed the court that Karnataka was not complying with the CWMA's directions and that the State was not receiving the water required for release to farmers. He said, “We have not been able to release any water to the agriculturalists. Even in deficit year, there has to be sharing on pro rata basis.”
“As of now they have 76 per cent live storage in their reservoir, they have hardly released the water,” he claimed, stating that the state received only 14 tmc feet water till August 16 and there has been backlog of over 20 tmc feet. “Why are you not releasing,” the bench asked senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Karnataka.
Vaidyanatha said there have been directions to release 12,000 cusecs per day from August 12 for 15 days. Divan, for his part, said the picture presented was "extremely incorrect" in every material respect. This season is extremely severe distress year, there is enormous deficit so far in our reservoirs, he said. The CWMA is alive to the situation and issued directions.
The contention that the CWMA directions were not being complied was absolutely false, he said, adding that 12,000 cusecs have exceeded as of Monday morning. “The role of court is minimal in such circumstances,” the counsel said.
“It means you are complying with directions,” the bench asked him. “We will adjourn the matter, you come back after a week,” the bench told the counsel, having noted the chart furnished by Karnataka showing release of excess water.
In a written response, the Karnataka earlier opposed Tamil Nadu's plea, contending that the Cauvery Water Management Authority has wrongly approved the recommendation by the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee to ensure release of 12,000 cusecs of river water per day for the next 15 days, as the water year for 2026-27 has been a distress year due to El Nino effect.
Tamil Nadu approached the court claiming Karnataka had willfully failed to comply even with an earlier directive to release 3,500 cusecs daily. The state sought orders ensuring the stipulated flow reaches the inter-State border at Biligundlu and that Karnataka makes good the accumulated shortfall. It said the earlier direction would have required 4.536 tmc ft by August 12, but actual flows recorded between July 29 and August 2 ranged only between 158 cusecs and 530 cusecs.
Tamil Nadu also sought an additional 26.954 tmc ft as its pro rata entitlement under the distress-sharing formula from June 1 to August 12. The DMK’s application similarly sought immediate directions for releases at Biligundlu, highlighting the critical need for water for the Kuruvai paddy crop and Samba preparations in the Cauvery Delta.
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