Chennai: Amid the ongoing interstate row over Cauvery river, Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Tuesday upheld Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s (CWRC) recommendation and directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs (1 tmcft) of water daily to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days, effective August 12.The emergency meeting was held in New Delhi against the backdrop of Karnataka’s non-compliance with CWMA’s July 29 order, which had instructed the state to release 4 tmcft of water at 3,500 cusecs daily for 15 days.“CWRC held a meeting today (Tuesday) and recommended that Karnataka release 12,000 cusecs of water daily for the next 15 days. Following this, we urged the CWMA to convene an emergency meeting, which they agreed to. CWMA directed Karnataka to comply with the recommendation of CWRC at the meeting,” a senior bureaucrat, who attended the meeting, told TOI. The meeting, held through video conference, was chaired by CWMA chairman SK Haldar from Delhi.The official said that TN requested for 37 tmcft, taking into account the backlog of water to be released by Karnataka over the last few months. “As of now, there is an accumulated backlog of 21 tmcft of water. Even if they release 12,000 cusecs daily, we will receive only 15 tmcft over the next 15 days, leaving us with a shortfall of six tmcft,” the official said.Meanwhile, TN govt is keen on pursuing its legal battle against the upper riparian state for failing to honour Supreme Court directives. “The case is likely to come up for hearing this week. We will present strong arguments to ensure our rights over Cauvery water are protected,” the official added.Although Karnataka failed to comply with CWMA’s July 29 directive to release 3,500 cusecs daily, heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Kabini and other reservoirs in Karnataka led to surplus water being discharged downstream.As a result, daily inflows at Biligundlu surged from a meagre 54–67 cusecs between Aug 1 and Aug 3 to 4,923 cusecs on Aug 4. The inflow peaked at 19,264 cusecs on August 6 before declining and stabilising between 5,000 and 7,000 cusecs over the last two days. Driven by these inflows, the water level at Mettur reservoir rose from a little over 73 feet on August 3 to 79.17 feet as of 8 am on Aug 11.
