Cauvery water dispute: SC agrees to set up a bench to hear the government of Tamil Nadu’s appeal

The Cauvery River water-sharing issue, in which Tamil Nadu is asking Karnataka to give 24,000 cusecs of water per day for standing crops, was accepted by the Supreme Court on Monday.

After senior attorney Mukul Rohatgi, representing Tamil Nadu, requested an urgent hearing of the issue, a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said it would convene a bench to hear the matter today.

The Tamil Nadu government has submitted an application in the Cauvery River water-sharing dispute case, according to Rohatgi, who requested an expedited hearing of the issue.

“According to the direction of the Cauvery Water Management Authority, I am making an urgent request for the Cauvery water release for August. He emphasized the need to list it as soon as possible for hearing while stating that the court must establish a bench.

In response, the bench said, “Today itself, I will constitute a Bench.”

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been engaged in a conflict over the distribution of water from the Cauvery River, which is a significant source of irrigation and drinking water for millions of people in the area, for decades.

On June 2, 1990, the Center established the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) to resolve disagreements on the water-sharing capabilities between Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Puducherry.

Tamil Nadu’s administration has petitioned the supreme court for new instructions regarding the flow of water.

In its latest application, Tamil Nadu requested that the State of Karnataka issue a directive ordering the immediate release of 24,000 cusecs from its reservoirs and guarantee the availability of the required amount of water at Biligundlu on the interstate border for the remainder of the month in order to meet the urgent needs of the standing crops.

Additionally, it sought the Supreme Court to order Karnataka to guarantee the release of the 36.76 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) allocated for September 2023 in accordance with the final judgement of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) from February 2007, which the Supreme Court revised in 2018.

According to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka is responsible for making up the shortage of 28.849 TMC water during the period from June 1 to July 31 of the current irrigation year.

Additionally, it pleaded with the supreme court to order the Cauvery Water Management Authority to see that the instructions given to Karnataka regarding the release of water to Tamil Nadu were “fully implemented and the stipulated monthly releases during the remaining period of the current water year are fully given effect by the State of Karnataka”.

According to the application, Karnataka was granted the go-ahead on August 10 to release 15,000 cusecs from its reservoirs at Billigundulu on August 11 for a period of 15 days.

“Unfortunately, the CWMA arbitrarily decreased even this amount of water to 10,000 cusecs at its 22nd meeting on August 11 at Karnataka’s request. Unfortunately, Karnataka has not complied with even this requirement—10,000 cusecs—to be assured at Billigundulu by releasing such a quantity of water from the KRS and Kabini reservoirs.

The release of the specified amount of 10,000 cusecs (0.864 TMC per day), as instructed by CWRC, was not properly carried out by Karnataka, it said.

According to the final decision issued by the Tribunal, as amended by this Court, Karnataka is required to provide the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.