Bengaluru: Karnataka has released more Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu than required following abundant rains and copious inflows in the river basin for the last four months. Karnataka has released 416 tmc, four times more than 101 tmc fixed by the Supreme Court for the period ending September second week.
The Tamil Nadu government, which has been pressurizing the Central government and the Supreme Court for more Cauvery water every year, has no no option but to remain silent as Karnataka has given far higher water releases this year.
Supreme Court order
As per the Supreme Court's order which modified the Cauvery Tribunal verdict, Karnataka must release 177.25 tmc of water in every normal water year (from June 1 to May 31) to the Biligundlu reservoir in Tamil Nadu. The court has also fixed in its order how much water should be released in a particular month. Not only that, a Water Management Authority has been created under the auspices of the Central Government for Cauvery water management.
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Release of additional water
Quantity of water to be released every month has been fixed. Accordingly, 101 tmc of water should be released from June to the end of the second week of September. But due to heavy rainfall in the state, 416 tmc of water was released to Tamil Nadu, nearly 315 tmc more water than scheduled. Karnataka released 226 tmc of water in the month of August alone, out of 177.25 tmc of water that was drained between June 1 and May 31 in the entire water year.
As per the Supreme Court order, Karnataka has to release 9.19 tmc in June, 31.24 tmc in July, 45.95 tmc in August and 14.70 tmc by the end of the second week of September to Biligundlu reservoir in Tamil Nadu. The state followed this every month and released more water to Tamil Nadu than the quota. Water release was 16.46 tmc (7.27 tmc excess water) in June, 106.93 tmc (75.69 tmc excess water) in July, 223.57 tmc (177.62 tmc excess water) in August and 69.69 tmc (54.99 tmc excess water) by the end of the second week of September.
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Perennial Cauvery controversy
The Supreme Court in its order on February 17, 2018, modified the Cauvery Tribunal verdict and stipulated that Karnataka release 177.25 tmc of water to Tamil Nadu in a water year. Accordingly, since the state has already released much more water to Tamil Nadu than scheduled, there is no chance of raising any water dispute for the release of Cauvery water in Tamil Nadu this year.
Tamil Nadu never lost an opportunity to create a controversy for release of Cauvery water during period from June to September every year. TN used to raise a hue and cry during dry spells and deficit rains. This year, Karnataka has taken advantage of copious rains and inflows, and released more water than expected. This has put TN on the defensive, depriving it of every chance to raise any dispute on the contested Cauvery water issue.
