The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has moved the Supreme Court seeking urgent release of Cauvery river water by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu, saying the state has failed to comply with recent directions issued by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).
The plea seeks implementation of the CWMA’s order directing Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water per day for 15 days at the inter-state border at Biligundlu.
DMK is represented in the case by Thiru AKS Vijayan, who owns agricultural land in the Cauvery Delta and says he has been directly affected by the non-release of water.
What the CWMA directed
The CWMA recently upheld the decision of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), which directed Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.
According to the application, Karnataka challenged the CWRC’s direction before the CWMA and sought a two-week deferment. However, after considering improved inflows and other factors, the CWMA upheld the order, stating that releasing the water would not affect Karnataka’s drinking water requirements.
The DMK has told the Supreme Court that Karnataka has not complied with the direction. It also claimed that representatives of the state government have publicly stated that Karnataka will not release the water.
Long-running Cauvery dispute
The application recalls that the Cauvery water dispute dates back to 1974, when Karnataka, the upper riparian state, began diverting water without Tamil Nadu’s consent.
The dispute later reached the Supreme Court after the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal finalised the water-sharing formula in 2007. The tribunal’s award was issued on February 5, 2007, and notified by the Centre on February 19, 2013.
Besides deciding water sharing, the tribunal recommended the creation of the Cauvery Water Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee.
In 2018, the Supreme Court modified the tribunal’s award and directed Karnataka to release 177.25 TMC of water annually to Tamil Nadu at Biligundlu instead of 192 TMC.
Farmers facing hardship, says DMK
According to the fresh application, Karnataka must ensure monthly releases totalling 167.25 TMC between June and January every year under the tribunal’s order as modified by the Supreme Court. The application states that around 14.913 lakh acres of farmland, nearly 4 million farmers and about 10 million agricultural labourers depend on water stored in the Mettur reservoir, which receives water released by Karnataka.
The DMK said farmers in Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruchirappalli and other Cauvery delta districts are suffering because of the non-release of water.
It said the Kuruvai crop has already started withering due to water shortage and warned that unless the directed releases are made immediately and the backlog is cleared, standing crops would be irretrievably lost, causing severe damage and affecting farmers’ livelihoods.
Backlog of water release
The application says the South-West Monsoon has been deficient in the Cauvery basin this year and that water flows at Biligundlu have been only around 10 per cent of the stipulated quantity.
According to the DMK’s estimate, calculated on a distress-sharing basis, the backlog due to Tamil Nadu stood at 9.46 TMC as of July 26. It said around 7,000 cusecs of water per day would be required for 15 days to make up the shortfall.
The party also stressed that nearly three-fourths of the annual allocation of 167.25 TMC must reach Biligundlu between June and September because this is the crucial period for raising the Kuruvai paddy crop and beginning Samba cultivation. The application warned that water released after this period would not compensate for the loss, adding that the Cauvery Delta faces a real and imminent danger of being reduced to a desert.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday reaffirmed the State government’s stand that it cannot release water to Tamil Nadu, citing Karnataka’s prevailing water constraints. The development came a day after Shivakumar urged his Tamil Nadu counterpart, C. Joseph Vijay, to postpone his scheduled visit to the state in view of the recent order by the CWMA and the prevailing turmoil.