Cauvery Water Management Authority Upholds Order to Release Water to Tamil Nadu

New Delhi: The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) has upheld the decision of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) directing Karnataka to release 12,000 cubic feet of water from Cauvery per day to Tamil Nadu. The decision was confirmed at a meeting held in Delhi on Tuesday. Karnataka will have to release the water to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days from Wednesday.

Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said further decisions would be taken only after a detailed assessment of the water availability in the state. While respecting the authority’s decision, the Karnataka government maintains that the interests of farmers in the state must also be protected.

CWMA Chairman Saumitra Kumar Haldar said the authority arrived at the decision after considering the water levels in the reservoirs, inflows and the weather forecast for the next seven days. He also said that the prevailing conditions in Karnataka are currently favourable for complying with the order.

Karnataka had informed the authority that the Cauvery basin was facing severe water scarcity. The state said that the four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin had received only 77.746 TMC of water so far this year, which was 47 per cent below the 30-year average. Karnataka also pointed out that inflows into the reservoirs were declining rapidly. However, the authority reached its decision rejecting all the arguments put forward by the Karnataka government.

Karnataka argued that Tamil Nadu was in a better position in terms of water availability. It said Tamil Nadu had sufficient water in its reservoirs and would also receive inflows from the northeast monsoon.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu urged the CWMA to direct Karnataka to ensure the release of 37 TMC of water at Biligundlu by the end of August.