Cauvery panel directs Karnataka to release 3216 cusecs water every day to Tamil Nadu for next 38 days

As per a statement issued by the panel, CWRC recommended that Karnataka needs to ensure stipulated quantities of flow as per Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) award as modified by the Supreme Court for the remaining period of November 2023 and December 2023 implying flows to be realised at Biligundlu from November 24, 2023, to December 31, 2023, (38 days) is 3216 cusecs per day.

During the CWRC deliberations in the national capital, Karnataka submitted that the rainfall in Tamil Nadu is reported to be normal as per the India Meteorological Department from October 1, 2023, so the indications are that a satisfactory rainfall situation will be available in the Cauvery delta system and the areas below Mettur during North-East monsoon.

The shortfall in cumulative inflows to Karnataka's four reservoirs upto November 22, 2023, is 52.24 per cent. The inflows into four reservoirs of Karnataka have ceased and the present storage in these reservoirs of Karnataka as of November 21, 2023, is insufficient to meet the requirements for irrigation, drinking and other domestic needs, it added.

Tamil Nadu, in its submission, demanded that Karnataka has to release 5000 cusecs for the next 30 days.

Karnataka said that the state will not be able to release any water from its reservoirs so as to reach Biligundlu except that would be contributed from the uncontrolled catchment.

Further, the state submitted before the committee not to give directions for any releases from the reservoir of Karnataka.

Earlier in October this year, the CWRC directed the Karnataka government to release 2,600 cusecs of water every day from November 1 and 15, 2023.

The governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been locked in a protracted tussle over the sharing of Cauvery waters. The river is seen as a major source of sustenance for the people in either state.

The Centre formed the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on June 2, 1990, to adjudicate disputes between Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Puducherry with respect to their individual water-sharing capacities. (ANI)