Cauvery Water: Karnataka Begins Releasing 5000 Cusecs Per Day To Tamil Nadu After CWMA Order

Karnataka has begun releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu at the rate of 5000 cusecs per day after an order by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) yesterday (29 August). Earlier, on 28 August, the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) had prescribed the same amount.

The meetings come days before the Supreme Court hearing scheduled on 1 September. In the previous hearing, the Court had asked the CWMA to provide a report on the amount of water shared by Karnataka.

In its plea, Tamil Nadu had sought the release of 24000 cusecs for the remainder of the month (from 14 August).

Further, it requested Karnataka to make up for the shortfall of 28.849 TMC from 1 June to 31 July.

It had 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.

While Tamil Nadu requested 24000 cusecs, Karnataka wanted to supply 3000 cusecs.

According to a report by The Hindu, Saumitra Kumar Haldar, the chairman of the Authority said that the inflow in Karnataka's reservoirs this year was 51 per cent and the decision was taken based on parameters like current year data, long term average, inflows, outflows and discussions between the states.

Quoting a water expert, the report states that at the rate of 5000 cusecs per day, Tamil Nadu would receive 6.48 TMC by the end of the 15-day period while in normal circumstances, the realisation should have been 19.145 TMC.