Cauvery Water: Karnataka Calls For 'Distressed Year Formula' In Response To Tamil Nadu Plea In Supreme Court

In its submission to the Supreme Court on the plea by Tamil Nadu to direct it to release Cauvery water, Karnataka has contended that 2023 is a "distressed water year" and not a normal water year.

It said that in a distressed year, Karnataka could not be directed to release an amount of water that has been stipulated for a normal year. It has sought a formula for reduced water sharing during distressed years.

Further, it stated that this year, the Cauvery basin had received 23 per cent less rainfall in the KR Sagar catchment and 22 per cent less in the Kabini catchment.

Tamil Nadu has sought the release of 24000 cusecs for the remainder of the month (from 14 August) and make up for the shortfall of 28.849 TMC from 1 June to 31 July. It has also asked the Court to ensure that Karnataka releases 36.76 TMC in September as per the award of the Cauvery Tribunal which was modified by the Supreme Court in 2018.

Earlier this month, officials from Tamil Nadu had walked out of a meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) as Karnataka did not agree to requests by the state on the amount of water to be released.

After Tamil Nadu filed the plea in the Supreme Court last week, Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said that his government would release 10 TMC. He also asked the DMK government to reconsider its opposition to the Mekedatu project.

The case is scheduled to be heard today (25 August) by a 3-judge bench of Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and PK Mishra.