The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Karnataka government to ensure compliance with the Cauvery Water Management Authority’s (CWMA) directions on the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
During the hearing, senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan, appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, argued that Karnataka was not complying with the CWMA’s directions and that the State was not receiving the water required for release to farmers. The application sought direction to the CWMA to monitor the releases from the reservoirs of Karnataka and the flows realised at Biligundlu on a day-to-day basis and to report compliance to the top court. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta posted for hearing on August 24 Tamil Nadu’s plea seeking directions for the release of water, observing that the matter could be taken up then so that an updated status on the water release could be placed before it.
Tamil Nadu has approached the top court seeking enforcement of a decision by the CWMA directing Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of Cauvery water daily for 15 days. Tamil Nadu government moved the top court on August 3, challenging the non-implementation of the CWMA’s July 30 direction for the release of water from Karnataka’s Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagara reservoirs. The DMK, the opposition party in the state, had also approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Karnataka government to immediately release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu in accordance with the February 16, 2018 judgment of the top court and subsequent directions issued by the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) and the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).
