Karnataka calls all-party meet over Cauvery water directive; bandh on August 13

The CWMA order is the first Cauvery crisis encountered by the two new chief ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu – D K Shivakumar and Joseph Vijay, respectively – whose parties are allies in the TVK government in Chennai.

Pro-Kannada groups, which have traditionally agitated against release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu during distress years for Karnataka farmers, held a meeting on Friday afternoon and announced a state bandh on August 13.

“The order to release water to Tamil Nadu must be strongly opposed. There will be a bandh in the whole of Karnataka on August 13 from 6 am to 6 pm. The Karnataka Film Association, the state employees’ association, hotel associations and others are supporting this bandh. We call for moral support from everyone and ask that no one should oppose the bandh,” veteran Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj announced on Friday afternoon.

Earlier this week, Karnataka Congress CM Shivakumar had invited the Tamil Nadu TVK CM Joseph Vijay to Karnataka for a meeting on August 3 on the Cauvery issue and had suggested a joint aerial survey to understand the water crisis in Karnataka due to a deficient monsoon. The pro-Kannada groups have said the Karnataka government should invite the Tamil Nadu CM only if the neighbouring state agrees to drop its demand for water release.

On Thursday, following the CWMA’s confirmation of the CWRC order of July 28, Shivakumar said that another appeal had been filed before the CWMA and that an all-party meeting on the Cauvery water issue would be held on Sunday (August 2).

“Today, an appeal has been filed before the Cauvery Water Management Authority, and we will discuss how to take this matter forward in the all-party meeting. We have discussed this issue with (BJP) MPs and Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, V Somanna, Jagadish Shettar, and Basavaraj Bommai, and they are making utmost efforts for the welfare of the state,” Shivakumar said.

“We have no interest in fighting with each other. There is a law of the land. We must respect one another. The entire country must work together,” Shivakumar said regarding the possibility of tensions escalating on the issue in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

“We have requested Chief Minister Vijay to personally assess the situation in the Cauvery basin. I have also informed him that the Government will make the necessary helicopter arrangements for his visit. He should witness the ground realities himself. Let us see what decision he takes,” the Karnataka CM said on July 29 before the CWMA order of July 30.

CWMA proceedings

Karnataka argued before the CWMA on Thursday that the state is facing “acute hydrological distress” since “Karnataka’s inflows are 65.65 per cent below the 30-year average due to the Super El Niño” even as Tamil Nadu’s main rainfall period – the northeast monsoon – will begin only in October.

“Tamil Nadu already has substantial carryover storage from Karnataka’s earlier releases,” and “in distress years, Northeast monsoon has significantly augmented Tamil Nadu’s storages,” the Karnataka government argued in an effort to delay the release of 3,500 cusecs of water.

Karnataka sought keeping “the CWRC’s direction in abeyance for another fortnight” to “review the evolving hydrological situation”.

Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, urged the CWMA to direct Karnataka to “enhance the daily release beyond 3,500 cusecs, contending that the prevailing hydrological distress warranted a higher quantum of release.”

The CWMA, however, “endorsed the decision of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee dated 28.07.2026, directing Karnataka to ensure a daily flow of 3,500 cusecs at Biligundlu for a period of 15 days.”

Dispute escalates during poor rainfall years

The dispute over Cauvery water sharing aggravates during drought years, and the last time a similar situation arose was in 2023 when Karnataka was directed by the CWMA to release 10,000 cusecs of water amid a water crisis in the state due to insufficient monsoon rainfall.

While the contentiousness of the dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the sharing of the Cauvery River water has diminished since the Supreme Court of India virtually settled the over 200-year-old water sharing dispute in 2018, the contentions now revolve around the CWMA rulings when there is poor rainfall in the catchment of the river in Karnataka.

In 2023, for the first time since the broader dispute was settled, the contentions over CWMA orders reached the Supreme Court. The CWMA is a largely apolitical authority created under the aegis of the Union Water Resources Ministry to oversee the implementation of the 2018 Supreme Court orders, and it regulates the dispute between the two states.

The contention of political parties in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, however, is that the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the Supreme Court order of 2018 on sharing the Cauvery water have only spelt out the water-sharing norms during a normal monsoon and not distress years.

Political parties like the DMK in Tamil Nadu, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka have in the past called for the PM’s intervention to create a mechanism for redressal of the dispute in distress years.

Out of the 740 TMC of Cauvery River water to be shared every year, the Supreme Court awarded 404.25 TMC to Tamil Nadu, 284.75 TMC to Karnataka, 30 TMC to Kerala, 7 TMC to Puducherry and 14 TMC for environment protection and wastage into the sea.

The Supreme Court also ordered the creation of the CWMA and the CWRC to adjudicate disputes that come up between the states within the framework of the final orders of the court.

Under the February 2, 2018, verdict of the top court in the Cauvery water dispute, Karnataka is supposed to release 123.14 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu between June and September. Karnataka is behind schedule for water release in June and July this year, resulting in Tamil Nadu approaching the CWRC for intervention.

The Karnataka government has also been seeking implementation of the Mekedatu check dam project on the Cauvery River in Karnataka to facilitate drinking water storage for Bengaluru and for release of excess water to Tamil Nadu in crisis situations.

In the past, prior to the Supreme Court order of 2018, protests over the Cauvery dispute have resulted in violence in Karnataka with mainstream political parties trying to gain currency among the electorate by taking up highly chauvinistic positions.

In 1991, the dispute over the sharing of the Cauvery River water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu erupted in violence, resulting in the death of nearly 23 people in Karnataka. The state was governed by S Bangarappa of the Congress at the time.

In 2016, when the Congress was in power under chief minister Siddaramaiah, Bengaluru witnessed incidents of violence during protests over the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, and two persons were killed in police firing.