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SC orders Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Karnataka to release 1.25 tmc feet of water to Tamil Nadu everyday from Wednesday.

Brushing aside all legal objections of the Karnataka government, a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice B N Kirpal, said the water is to be released into Tamil Nadu's Mettur reservoir everyday till a final decision is taken by the Cauvery River Authority.

The bench, also comprising Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice Arijit Pasayat, made it clear that this interim order, to be operative from tomorrow, 'shall stand automatically superseded by the decision taken by CRA', which is headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"The CRA is requested to finally decide the dispute between the states with regard to pro-rata sharing of water by the Cauvery river basin states, especially in times of distress," the bench said.

Karnataka tried to avert an interim order of the court, first by saying the quantum of water to be released should be worked out by experts, and later by questioning the need for an interim order when the Cauvery Monitoring Committee is to give a report to the CRA by September 15.

"The legal gymnastics can wait," the bench said, observing that the storage quantity in the four reservoirs of Karnataka had increased from 41 tmc feet to 73 tmc feet in August.

Tamil Nadu's counsel K K Venugopal contended that the Kuruvai crops were totally destroyed due to non-release of water by Karnataka and if the situation did not improve the Samba crops would also meet the same fate.

The bench said, "As the CRA is likely to take a few more days before taking a final decision, in our view it will be appropriate if some interim arrangement is made."

"Taking all circumstances into consideration, and after hearing the parties and Solicitor General Harish Salve, we direct Karnataka to release water from its reservoirs so as to ensure that 1.25 tmc feet water is made available in Tamil Nadu's Mettur reservoir everyday," the bench said.

The clinching factor in the arguments was the placing of a chart by Venugopal indicating storage position of the four reservoirs in Karnataka in the period from August one to 31. The chart indicated that the cumulative storage in the four reservoirs went up from 41.8 tmc feet to 73.4 tmc feet water.

Interestingly, when the court sought the views of Solicitor General as to what percentage of the inflow into the Karnataka reservoirs be allowed to be released to Tamil Nadu, Salve, maintaining equidistance from the stance of the states, said the Centre could provide the figures and statistics about the inflow and outflow, but the court should determine the quantum of the water to be released.

Cauvery Water Dispute: The Complete Coverage

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