In the meeting of Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), Karnataka has refused to provide water to Tamil Nadu citing acute shortage. Karnataka says that the water in the reservoirs is only for drinking. Whereas Tamil Nadu is adamant on the decision of the Supreme Court.
New Delhi [भारत]July 15 (ANI): At the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) meeting held on Wednesday, Karnataka said it cannot provide water to Tamil Nadu due to acute water shortage in the Cauvery basin. This information was given by the office of Karnataka Irrigation Minister Ramalinga Reddy.
Karnataka officials told the committee that there was no rainfall in the Cauvery catchment area in June and the inflow of water into the reservoirs was zero. “There has been some rainfall at some places in July, and a small amount of water has accumulated in dams. But there is no forecast for the monsoon to pick up again,” officials said.
Both states presented their arguments
Karnataka argued that the water currently stored should be used only for drinking purposes. “There is no water stored in our dams. The water available now is limited to drinking purposes. Karnataka is facing a rainfall deficit like we have never seen before,” the state said.
However, Tamil Nadu insisted that the water should be released as per the Supreme Court decision. According to Ramalinga Reddy’s office, the CWRC did not issue any direction to any state. The committee noted the possibility of rain and said the next meeting would be held on July 28, officials said.
The meeting was held in hybrid mode at the office of Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) in New Delhi.
old history of dispute
This new controversy arose when Tamil Nadu demanded Karnataka to release Cauvery water for the state, which Karnataka refused citing low rainfall and low storage of water. The Supreme Court in 2018 had ordered Karnataka to release 177.25 TMC water to Tamil Nadu to resolve the long-running Cauvery river water dispute.
After defining the share of water in its 2018 judgment, in September 2023, the Supreme Court observed that the CWRC had passed an order, which was confirmed by the CWMA, directing Karnataka to release 5000 cusecs of water per day into Biligundulu, Tamil Nadu, comprising Krishna Raja Sagar and Kabini, for 15 days.
Meanwhile, the two states are also at loggerheads over the proposed Mekedatu Dam in Karnataka. Tamil Nadu Assembly has passed a resolution opposing this dam.
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