The Supreme Court on Monday (August 17, 2026) decided to wait and watch the progress in Cauvery water sharing between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, even as Karnataka said that over 12,000 cusecs was released by 8 a.m. on August 17.
Tamil Nadu, represented by senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanthan, emphasised that the court must ensure that Karnataka should strictly follow the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) directions on water allocation.
A Bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath addressed Tamil Nadu, saying “it is not that the State [Karnataka] is not giving water to you”.
It posted the case to August 24. Tamil Nadu had sought the court to direct Karnataka to release the balance quantity of 21.357 TMC due as on August 12. It had also sought the release of 37 TMC of Cauvery water from August 12 to August 31.
The court said it would watch the progress while seeking a fresh status report. However, Tamil Nadu had filed an additional affidavit in the Supreme Court recently, arguing that Karnataka’s release of water was “never voluntary compliance”.
