BENGALURU: The Karnataka government told the Supreme Court on Monday that it had released water in excess of the prescribed quantity to Tamil Nadu and was complying with the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) direction to ensure a flow of 9,000 cusecs.On August 25, the CWMA upheld the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s (CWRC) recommendation directing Karnataka to ensure a flow of 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, news agency PTI reported.The matter was heard by a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.Senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan, appearing for Tamil Nadu, told the bench that the state had raised the issue of the water backlog before the Authority, but no direction had been issued on it.“We are complying (with the CWMA direction) as of today,” senior adv Shyam Divan, appearing for Karnataka, said.Divan said that under the August 25 direction, Karnataka was required to release 9,000 cusecs of water and had released 10,727 cusecs on the first day, PTI reported.“On August 30, 9,888 cusecs (of water) was released and as of 8 am today, 11,547 cusecs was released,” he said, adding, “We have released water in excess amount as of today,” he added.The top court was hearing Tamil Nadu’s plea seeking directions to Karnataka for immediate release of Cauvery water.During the hearing, Vaidyanathan said Karnataka had earlier been directed to release 12,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days from August 12, but the quantity had now been reduced to 9,000 cusecs without any reason.“You want water. They (Karnataka) are releasing. The decision of CWMA has to be challenged,” the bench told Vaidyanathan.Divan said Karnataka had recently declared severe drought in some areas, including districts falling within the Cauvery basin.“There should be some consideration by some authority as to why my backlog should not be cleared,” Vaidyanathan argued.The bench was informed that the CWRC was reviewing the situation every 15 days, PTI reported.The top court posted the matter for September 15 and asked the parties to place updated data on record. It also said they could submit details of any further developments in the meantime.The bench noted that the CWRC was meeting every 15 days and passing appropriate orders after hearing the parties.While hearing the matter on August 24, the apex court had told the Tamil Nadu government that it could raise its grievance before the CWMA regarding the release of its proportionate share of Cauvery water from Karnataka.The CWRC had earlier directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days from August 12, a decision subsequently upheld by the CWMA.On August 17, the apex court had asked Karnataka to ensure compliance with the CWMA direction on the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.The Tamil Nadu government had earlier said the state was not receiving its due share of Cauvery water in a rain-deficient year.The Joseph Vijay-led state government approached the apex court on August 3, seeking directions to Karnataka for immediate release of water.In its plea, the state government claimed that the quantum allocated to it by the CWRC, as well as the quantity released by Karnataka, was very low.At a CWRC meeting on July 28, Karnataka was directed to release 3,500 cusecs of water for 15 days from July 29.However, the Tamil Nadu government said the quantity released at Biligundlu ranged between 158 and 550 cusecs from July 29 to August 2.A press release issued by the Tamil Nadu government said that as of August 3, the combined storage in Karnataka’s KRS, Kabini, Harangi and Hemavathy reservoirs stood at 77.537 TMC (thousand million cubic feet), and claimed that Karnataka would face no difficulty in releasing Tamil Nadu’s proportionate share.Following recent rains in the catchment areas of the KRS and Kabini dams in Karnataka, the proportionate water to be realised at Biligundlu should be 26.954 TMC, it said.“Accordingly, the Cauvery Water Management Authority order allocating 4.536 TMC is very less,” the release added.The press release said Karnataka had “failed” to share Tamil Nadu’s due share of water and put the quantum at 26.954 TMC.(With agency inputs)
