The Tamil Nadu government on Monday approached the Supreme Court seeking directions to Karnataka to release Cauvery river water, alleging that the neighbouring State has failed to comply with orders issued by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC).
According to an official statement, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay directed the State government to move the apex court after Karnataka allegedly did not release Tamil Nadu's mandated share of water despite repeated directions from the Cauvery authorities.
At its 139th meeting on July 28, the CWRC directed Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water at Biligundlu from July 29 to August 12 by drawing water from the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) and Kabini reservoirs. The directive was later ratified by the CWMA during its emergency meeting on July 30.
However, Tamil Nadu claimed that the actual inflow at Biligundlu between July 29 and August 2 ranged from only 158 to 550 cusecs, far below the quantity ordered by the regulatory bodies.
The State further argued that Karnataka has sufficient water available in its reservoirs. As of August, the combined storage in the KRS, Kabini, Harangi and Hemavathi reservoirs stood at 77.537 TMC, including 67.517 TMC of usable storage, indicating there was no difficulty in releasing Tamil Nadu's due share.
Tamil Nadu also contended that increased rainfall in the Cauvery catchment has raised its proportionate entitlement to 26.954 TMC of water at Biligundlu, substantially higher than the 4.536 TMC directed by the CWMA for the current period.
Citing Karnataka's alleged non-compliance and acting on legal advice, the State filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking directions to ensure the timely release of Cauvery water in accordance with the orders of the CWMA and CWRC.
The latest petition marks another chapter in the long-running inter-state dispute over sharing the waters of the Cauvery river between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
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