BENGALURU Karnataka’s effort to hold the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu failed on Thursday when the Cauvery Water Management Authority upheld an order requiring the state to ensure a flow of 3,500 cusecs a day for 15 days, despite its warnings that reservoir levels were already under severe pressure from drought.
Event Context
The CWMA, the apex body overseeing the implementation of inter-state water releases under the Supreme Court’s Cauvery verdict, directed Karnataka to comply with the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s order. The CWRC had ordered Karnataka to begin the release from 8 am on July 29, with the required flow to be measured at Biligundlu on the inter-state boundary.
Karnataka had challenged that direction before the CWMA, arguing that the state’s water position was too fragile to support the release without affecting its own drinking water requirements. “The state will now consider its next legal move while attempting to build political consensus on the dispute,” said an official in the know.
Chief minister D K Shivakumar has convened an all-party meeting in Bengaluru on Sunday. Former chief ministers, leaders of major political parties, Opposition leaders, legislators and MPs from the Cauvery basin have been invited. “We need the cooperation of all political parties on this issue. I have already spoken to several leaders, including Union ministers from Karnataka,” Shivakumar told reporters.
Mohan Katarki, Karnataka’s legal adviser on inter-state water disputes, said meeting the CWRC requirement would mean additional releases of around 4,500 to 5,000 cusecs from KRS and Kabini, depending on rainfall in the intermediate catchment areas. He estimated that the extra release would reduce Karnataka’s reservoir storage by about 5.5 TMC.
“I have also informed him that the government will make the necessary arrangements for his aerial visit to see the situation. He should witness the ground realities,” he added.
Team Analysis
Karnataka’s concern is that the volume needed to achieve 3,500 cusecs at Biligundlu could be considerably higher at the reservoirs because of losses along the river. State officials fear that complying with the order could affect supplies needed for drinking water in the coming months.
The rainfall deficit across Karnataka is about 35%, while Kodagu, which contains the principal catchment area for the Cauvery, has recorded a deficit of about 45%.
The dispute has already triggered protests across the Cauvery basin. Farmers’ organisations have opposed the release, particularly after Karnataka decided not to provide water for irrigation in its own command areas because of the drought.
On July 29, a farmers’ group led by Kurubur Shanthakumar blocked the Mysuru-Ooty Highway. Another demonstration near the Sir M Visvesvaraya statue on the Mysuru-Bengaluru highway disrupted traffic, with police taking protesters into preventive custody. In Mysuru, demonstrators gathered at Agrahara Circle carrying empty water pots and demanded that no Cauvery water be released to Tamil Nadu.
The protests also reached a cinema in Mandya, where screenings of “Jana Nayagan”, starring Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay, were cancelled after Kannada activists demanded that the film not be shown during the dispute. “We had come to lay siege to the theatre demanding the cancellation of Jana Nayagan. The theatre manager and owner responded to our demands,” one protester said.
Another described the CWRC’s order as “a death warrant” for Karnataka.
Match Outlook
The CWRC order upheld by the CWMA is expected to deliver about four TMC of water to Tamil Nadu over the 15-day period.
Shivakumar has also invited Vijay to inspect the Cauvery reservoirs and see the drought conditions for himself. Vijay has indicated that he intends to visit Bengaluru on August 3, although the schedule has not been officially confirmed.
“Vijay has written to the Karnataka chief secretary and has also spoken to me over phone. I have extended him the respect he deserves and invited him to the meeting in Bengaluru. It is our duty to receive guests visiting our state with due courtesy, and all necessary arrangements have been made to receive him,” Shivakumar said.
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Karnataka’s case before the water authority rested largely on the sharp deterioration in its hydrological position. Cumulative inflows into the state’s four Cauvery reservoirs between June 1 and July 27 were 65.86% below the 30-year average, according to figures cited during the proceedings.
The flow at Biligundlu on July 27 was only 176 cusecs, while the combined outflow from the Krishna Raja Sagara and Kabini reservoirs was 1,822 cusecs.
