Supreme Court Directs Karnataka to Comply With CWMA's Cauvery Water Release Order, Posts Matter to August 24

The Supreme Court on August 17 took up Tamil Nadu's plea, filed on August 3, seeking directions to Karnataka to release its due share of Cauvery water amid a rain-deficient year, along with similar pleas including one filed by the DMK.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta asked Karnataka to ensure compliance with the CWMA's directions and posted the matter to August 24, seeking a status report from the Authority on water released in the interim. "Let this matter be posted after a week so that further status regarding the release of water can be reported. In the meantime, the respondent to ensure compliance of CWMA directions," the bench observed.

Senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan, appearing for Tamil Nadu, told the court that Karnataka was not complying with the CWMA's directions and that the state had received only about 14 TMC of water against the 64 TMC it was entitled to under the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Karnataka, disputed the allegations, saying his state had faced "extremely severe distress" in the Cauvery basin but had already met, and even exceeded, the earlier requirement of releasing 3,500 cusecs a day for 15 days.

The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee had earlier directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water daily from August 12 for 15 days — an order that had triggered a statewide bandh in Karnataka on August 13.