In a setback to Tamil Nadu,the Cauvery Supervisory Committee on Wednesday turned down its demand for release of water from Karnataka as of now citing deficit in inflows and low storage levels in reservoirs in Karnataka. The secretary-level panel will,however,review the situation again in the first week of July. The second meeting of the committee,chaired by Water Resources Ministry Secretary S K Sarkar,reviewed the storage levels in reservoirs in both the states and the progress of monsoon. While the Tamil Nadu side demanded that Karnataka be directed to release the share of water as per the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and backlog for last year,Karnatakas representatives contested the demand and said it cannot spare any water now. Tamil Nadu also wanted immediate constitution of the Cauvery Management Board. It argued that the committee has been constituted to ensure the implementation of the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and it cannot modify the quantum of allocation of water as prescribed in the final award. The committee noted that the inflow in the four reservoirs of Karnataka from July 1 to 10 is 1.66 TMC,as against the normal inflow of 11.12 TMC,which amounts to a mere 15 per cent of the normal inflow. Although the monsoon is expected to pick up in the coming days and is likely to be good,the committee felt that as of now the data on storage position indicates that the water available is very small as compared to average and even less than that of last years storage. Looking into the data such as the deficit in inflows and very low storages in the reservoir in the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,the request of Tamil Nadu for release of water by Karnataka was considered and found not feasible as of now, the committee said. The committee was constituted by the Supreme Court last month as a pro-tem measure for implementing the Cauvery tribunal award.
