Cauvery Dispute: Karnataka Gets Additional 14.75 TMC Water, Tamil Nadu Share Reduced By 4.75 TMC

Even as both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu prepared for adverse effects of the much awaited decision in the decades long Cauvery Water dispute, the Supreme Court on Friday (16 February) pronounced its judgement allotting an additional 14.75 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of the river water to Karnataka.

The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in February 2007 had provided a yearly allocation of 419 tmc to Tamil Nadu, 270 tmc to Karnataka, 30 tmc to Kerala and 7 tmc to Puducherry. While there has been no change in the allotment for the other two states, the apex court reduced the water allotted to Tamil Nadu to 404.25 TMC while increasing Karnataka's share to 284.75 TMC.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra pronounced the verdict on the appeals filed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala against the 2007 CWDT order. The increased demand for drinking water by Bengaluru and for other industrial purposes has been cited as the reason for the increase in water allotted to the state.

As reported by the Times of India, Tamil Nadu will now get 404.25 TMC of the river water. But the court permitted Tamil Nadu to draw an additional 10 TMC of ground water from beneath the Cauvery basin thereby ensuring that the reduction in total water allotment was only 4.75 TMC.