Comply with Cauvery water release order: SC

The Supreme Court has directed Karnataka to comply with the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu as per the Water Management Authority’s (CWMA) guidelines, while postponing a decision on whether Karnataka is still adhering to the water-sharing order for an additional week. The court's bench, consisting of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, will reassess the situation after a week, requesting an update on Karnataka's water release.

Tamil Nadu's plea for implementing the CWMA's decision to release water to the state was heard by the bench. Senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan, representing Tamil Nadu, claimed that Karnataka is not following the CWMA's directions and that Tamil Nadu is not receiving the necessary water to release to farmers. He pointed out that Karnataka's reservoirs currently have 76% live storage, and according to the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award, Karnataka should have released 64 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu, but has only released 14 TMC.

Vaidyanathan also mentioned that there is a backlog of approximately 20 TMC. Karnataka's attorney, Shyam Divan, refuted Tamil Nadu's claim of non-compliance, stating that the state not only complied with the earlier CWMA instruction to release 3,500 cusecs a day but has exceeded it. Divan added that the first direction was in force until August 11, and Karnataka was required to maintain a flow of 3,500 cusecs at the interstate border.

He noted that water released from the Krishna Raja Sagar reservoir takes around 48 hours to reach the downstream point, and protocols need to be followed before releasing water. The court inquired if Karnataka had complied with the CWMA direction to maintain a flow of 12,000 cusecs per day from August 12. Divan responded that there was a shortage in the first few days but that the flow had surpassed the mandated level by Monday.

He assured the court that Karnataka would strive to maintain the 12,000-cusecs flow as directed by the CWMA, although it would be challenging. The bench emphasized that the Supreme Court's role should be minimal, given that two expert bodies have already provided their opinions on the matter. This development follows the CWMA's endorsement of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's directive, which required Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days starting August 13.

The two states have significant disagreements over compliance and hydrological data, leading the court to refrain from issuing a fresh coercive order at the time.