New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed Karnataka to comply with the directions of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu and sought a status report from the authority.
A Bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta was hearing an application filed by Tamil Nadu seeking enforcement of the CWMA's directions to Karnataka.
On the latest CWMA direction requiring Karnataka to maintain a flow of 12,000 cusecs from August 12, Divan acknowledged that the flow remained at around 6,000 cusecs during the first four to five days. However, he said Karnataka expected to make up the shortfall in the following days
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 was not receiving the required water for farmers.
"As of this morning they have 76% live storage in the reservoir," Vaidyanathan said, claiming that Tamil Nadu had received only 14 TMC against the 64 TMC it was entitled to under the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award.
Even after accounting for the deficit in flows this year, Tamil Nadu claimed it should have received 55.29% of the allocated water, leaving a shortfall of around 20 TMC.
Appearing for Karnataka, Senior Advocate Shyam Divan disputed the allegation of non-compliance and said the state was facing "extremely severe distress" in the Cauvery basin.
Divan said the first CWMA direction required Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs for 15 days until August 11. According to him, Karnataka had complied with the direction and released substantially more water during the period.
He also told the court that water released from the Krishna Raja Sagar reservoir takes around 48 hours to reach downstream locations and that established protocols need to be followed before making sudden changes to reservoir releases.
The Supreme Court posted Tamil Nadu's application for further hearing on August 24 and directed the CWMA to submit a status report on the implementation of its directions.
