Chennai, 03 August (H.S.):The Tamil Nadu government on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking urgent directions to Karnataka to implement the Cauvery Water Management Authority's (CWMA) latest order and release 3,500 cusecs of water daily for 15 days from the Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagara reservoirs.
The petition, filed on behalf of the government led by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, seeks the release of 4.536 TMC of water by August 12 in line with the CWMA's July 30 directive. The legal move comes amid renewed tensions over the Cauvery dispute, even as Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said the water situation in his State had 'slightly improved' and appealed to Kannada organisations to withdraw their proposed statewide bandh on August 13.
Tamil Nadu's application was finalised by senior advocates C.S. Vaidyanathan and G. Umapathy, drafted by advocate Tushar Nair, and filed through advocate-on-record B. Karunakaran.
In addition to seeking enforcement of the CWMA's latest decision, Tamil Nadu has urged the Supreme Court to direct the authority to ensure Karnataka makes good the cumulative shortfall in water releases at the inter-State monitoring point of Billigundulu. The State has claimed that Karnataka should immediately release 26.954 TMC of water, representing the deficit from June 1 to August 12, on a pro-rata basis.
The petition also seeks directions to the CWMA to monitor water storage levels and releases from Karnataka's reservoirs every 10 days and ensure that the monthly and daily water releases prescribed under the Cauvery water-sharing arrangement are strictly followed.
In its application, the Tamil Nadu government alleged that Karnataka had repeatedly failed to comply with the Cauvery Tribunal's allocation orders, honouring them only during periods of surplus inflows caused by floods. It argued that the continued non-compliance had severely affected irrigation in Tamil Nadu and warranted immediate intervention by the Supreme Court.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman
