Cauvery water dispute: SC refuses to interfere with panel’s decision; Karnataka Opp calls it state govt’s failure

The Supreme Court also noted that the CWRC had taken into consideration the decreased inflow due to rain shortfall as well as other factors and that the two bodies were meeting and monitoring the water situation every 15 days. At the 23rd CWMA meeting held on August 29, Karnataka was asked to ensure the release of 5,000 cusecs of water every day to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days. Tamil Nadu, however, urged the court to direct Karnataka to release 24,000 cusecs of water daily.

Appearing for Tamil Nadu, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi said the CWMA had mechanically approved the CWRC decision that Karnataka should release 7,200 cusecs of water daily. This was rounded off to 5,000, he added. “It is a distress year for everyone. I am a lower agrarian state. The calculation is based on that. In a regular year I would have been eligible for three times more,” he contended.

Opposing Tamil Nadu’s demand, senior advocate Shyam Divan, who appeared for Karnataka, said even the direction to release 5,000 cusecs daily was against the state’s interest. The Bench said it did not want to enter into rival claims. “We are not inclined to interfere. Every 15 days, they [CWMA and CMRA] are reviewing it. It is a body comprising experts and they have given their reasons,” said Justice Gavai.

Before the Court pronounced its order, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar called on Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in Delhi and informed him of the state’s inability to comply with the CWMA’s order.

Farmers and pro-Kannada outfits staged protests in various parts of the state. Attacking the Congress government in Karnataka for “failing to explain the ground realities” to the Court, the Opposition BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) (JD-S) asked whether “Cauvery water was being released to Tamil Nadu to keep the INDIA alliance partners happy”.

Former chief ministers B S Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai urged the Siddaramaiah government to file a review petition before the Supreme Court, challenging the CWMA order on Cauvery water release.

Alleging that both the law and the water resources departments have failed to convey the state’s concern over the Cauvery issue to the court, Yediyurappa said, “Considering the order issued by the top court today (Thursday), it is clear that the state government has failed to provide the court with required records,” he said, urging the Karnataka government to file an appeal against the SC decision.

Bommai said Tamil Nadu has “utilised the water (from Cauvery) illegally”, which must be brought to the notice of the Supreme Court, while explaining the situation in Cauvery basin. “The court should not just consider water levels in the dams of Karnataka, but also those in Tamil Nadu,” he said.

JD(S) leader and former CM H D Kumaraswamy alleged that the “injustice was being meted to Karnataka on the Cauvery issue because Congress’ political interests were linked to Tamil Nadu”.

Drought caused by weak south-west monsoon this year triggered the decade-old Cauvery water dispute between the two states. While Tamil Nadu has demanded Karnataka to release water, the latter has maintained that it will not be able to do so due to lack of water in reservoirs of the Cauvery basin.