Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government, led by chief minister Joseph Vijay, moved the Supreme Court on Monday over the Cauvery water dispute with Karnataka.
Accusing its neighbour of failing to release volume of Cauvery water in accordance with directions issued by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), Tamil Nadu sought immediate release of water.
Tamil Nadu government’s counsel B Karunakaran confirmed the filing of the petition, following instructions from actor-turned-politician Vijay.
At its 139th meeting held on July 28, the CWRC reviewed hydrological and meteorological conditions in the Cauvery basin and directed Karnataka to ensure release of 3,500 cusecs of water per second at Biligundlu for 15 days — from July 29 to August 12.
The order was upheld by the CWMA, but Tamil Nadu government claimed that the actual inflow at Biligundlu over the fortnight ranged between 158 and 550 cusecs, well below the ordered amount.
Tamil Nadu further argued that Karnataka had sufficient water in its reservoirs to comply with the release order. As of August 3, the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir held 23.078 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water, Kabini 18.610 TMC, Harangi 7.827 TMC and Hemavathi 28.022 TMC.
Hence, there was no practical difficulty preventing Karnataka from releasing its rightful share of water on a proportional basis, claimed Tamil Nadu.
They also pointed to heavy rainfall in catchment areas of the KRS and Kabini reservoirs, which has increased inflows substantially.
