Release Cauvery Water To Tamil Nadu Or Face Consequences, Supreme Court Tells Karnataka Government

The Supreme Court today told Karnataka to release to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu or "face serious consequences”, Times of India has reported.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra asked Karnataka government to release four thousand million cubic feet of water to Tamil Nadu for May. The bench also scheduled the next hearing on the plea filed by Tamil Nadu for framing of a scheme for releasing Cauvery water as per the February 16 judgment for Tuesday and asked the Centre to file an affidavit stating the steps taken in this direction.

Attorney General K K Venugopal told Supreme Court that "the Cauvery Management Board draft has to be tabled before the Union Cabinet and as Prime Minister is in Karnataka for elections, the draft therefore has not been approved yet".

“Weren't you supposed to frame the Cauvery draft scheme by May 3," Misra asked. "We are not bothered about the polls. The scheme should have been framed by now.  States have no role in this," the Chief Justice added.

The Centre had on Wednesday sought an extension of two weeks from the apex court to draft the water sharing scheme. The apex court had criticised the government for neither framing the scheme within the given time nor approaching the court prior to the 31 March deadline to convey difficulties if was facing.

Tamil Nadu has accused the Centre of "politicizing the issue. Centre doesn't want to frame the scheme now.  This is the end of cooperative federal politics. What do we tell the people of Tamil Nadu?" the state has said.

Also Read: DMK, Congress Complicated Cauvery Dispute, Mr Stalin!