Cauvery Row Escalates: CWMA Orders Karnataka to Release 12,000 Cusecs Daily; Karnataka Bandh Held as Supreme Court Hearing Deferred to August 17

The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), at its 55th meeting on August 11, sharply escalated its earlier order, directing Karnataka to ensure releases from its reservoirs so that a flow of 12,000 cusecs is realised at Biligundlu from 8 a.m. on August 12 for the next 15 days — up from the 3,500 cusecs a day it had earlier ordered for the period July 29 to August 12.

Karnataka told the Authority it was facing "severe hydrological distress," with inflows into its four Cauvery reservoirs — KRS, Kabini, Hemavathi and Harangi — running about 47% below the 30-year average, and urged the CWMA to either defer the decision or scale the release down to 10,000 cusecs. The Authority upheld the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's recommendation of 12,000 cusecs regardless.

The order triggered a Karnataka-wide bandh on August 13, called by pro-Kannada organisations and farmer groups led by activists including Vatal Nagaraj. The shutdown was largely peaceful, with schools, shops, banks and public transport functioning normally in Bengaluru and police detaining some protesters near the state border.

Separately, the Supreme Court hearing on Tamil Nadu's plea — filed on August 3 seeking enforcement of the CWMA's release order — which had been scheduled for August 13, was deferred to August 17 after Justice Vikram Nath, who is to head the bench, fell ill with viral fever. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the matter would be taken up once Justice Nath resumes judicial work next week.

Karnataka Minister Ramalinga Reddy said on August 13 that the state would find it difficult to release the full 12,000 cusecs a day as directed, and that Karnataka would decide its future course of action after the Supreme Court hearing, while asserting the state's interests would be protected.