Cauvery water dispute | SC refuses to intervene

SC refuses to intervene in Cauvery water dispute. TN sought more than 5K cusecs of water; Karnataka complained of distress in basin. Karnataka moved SC for direction to CWMA to reconsider its decision to ensure 5K cusecs of water to TN till Sept 29.

The Supreme Court on September 21 refused to intervene in the Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and said both CWMA and CWRC are regularly meeting and monitoring the water requirements every 15 days.

Tamil Nadu had sought for more than 5000 cusecs of water every day while Karnataka had complained that this was too much a burden considering the distress in the Cauvery basin.

The Karnataka government on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court for a direction to the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to reconsider its September 18 decision to ensure a flow of 5,000 cusecs of river water to Tamil Nadu till September 29.

The State urged the court to direct the CWMA to reconsider its decision of September 18 after taking a fresh recommendation from the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee.

“This water year of 2023-24 has begun on a bad note. The south-west monsoon which feeds the catchment in Karnataka has failed miserably. Even at the reservoir level, which covers a part of the catchment, the shortfall is 53.42%. If the shortfall is considered up to the inter-State border Biligundulu, where flows are accountable, shortfall and distress would be much more than 53.42%,” the Karnataka application said.