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Cauvery panel orders release of water to TN
The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 4 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu over the next 15 days, ordering a daily discharge of 3,500 cusecs despite the state’s contention that dwindling reservoir levels are sufficient only to meet drinking water needs
The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 4 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu over the next 15 days, ordering a daily discharge of 3,500 cusecs despite the state’s contention that dwindling reservoir levels are sufficient only to meet drinking water needs.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, state water resources minister K Ramalinga Reddy said that the government would decide its next course of action after consultations with senior officials and chief minister DK Shivakumar. “There has been no rain here. We need drinking water for the entire year,” he said.
The directive, issued after the committee met in New Delhi, is expected to be challenged before the Cauvery Water Management Authority, the apex body overseeing implementation of the Supreme Court’s 2018 Cauvery water sharing verdict.
The order came amid one of the weakest southwest monsoon seasons logged in the state in recent years. The state, which depends on the monsoon for about 75% of its annual rainfall, has recorded a rainfall deficit of around 35%. Kodagu, the principal catchment for the Cauvery, has received about 45% less rainfall than normal.
According to government data, the combined storage in the four major Cauvery basin reservoirs stood at 62.31 tmcft on July 27, only 54% of their total capacity of 114.57 tmcft. During the corresponding period last year, the reservoirs held 110.29 tmcft. Storage in the Krishnarajasagar reservoir has fallen to about 34% of its capacity.
The state’s water resources department told the committee that, apart from Harangi, storage in the Krishnarajasagar, Kabini and Hemavathi reservoirs remained critically low. Officials argued that the available water would have to be reserved for drinking supplies, including for Bengaluru, and warned that shortages could affect both urban consumption and irrigation.
The state also informed the committee that there was virtually no rainfall in the Cauvery catchment during June, resulting in no inflows into its reservoirs. Although some rainfall was recorded in parts of the basin in July, officials said only a limited quantity of water had been stored and there was no forecast suggesting a strong revival of the monsoon.
“The water available now is limited to drinking. Karnataka is facing a rainfall deficit the likes of which we have never seen before,” the state submitted.
Tamil Nadu maintained before the committee that Karnataka should release water in accordance with the Supreme Court’s 2018 judgment.
The latest direction follows a meeting of the CWMA on July 22, when both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were instructed to confine the use of stored Cauvery water to drinking purposes because of distress conditions across the basin. The authority had warned both states against using the available water for non-drinking purposes.
The regulation committee, which reviews reservoir storage and water releases on behalf of the authority, nevertheless concluded on Tuesday that Karnataka should release 3,500 cusecs a day for 15 days.
Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly R Ashoka accused the state government of failing to defend Karnataka’s case before the committee and urged it to immediately challenge the recommendation.
“It is the duty of the state government to convince the Cauvery Water Management Authority of the state’s actual situation with correct figures and protect the interests of Kannadigas. CM DK should immediately hold a meeting of officials and lawyers, file an appeal against the recommendation of the Cauvery Water Management Committee and prepare to present a strong argument in favor of the state,” he said.
