Supreme Court Directs Karnataka to Comply with Cauvery Water Release Orders

The Supreme Court on Monday directed Karnataka to strictly adhere to the Cauvery Water Management Authority's directions regarding the release of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu.

A Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued the order while hearing a petition filed by Tamil Nadu seeking enforcement of the Authority's directions. The court decided to review the situation again after allowing time for water releases to take effect, posting the matter after one week for a further status report while directing Karnataka to ensure compliance in the interim.

Senior Advocate C S Vaidyanathan, appearing for Tamil Nadu, argued that Karnataka had failed to comply with the Authority's directives, leaving farmers in the state with insufficient water. He informed the court that Karnataka's reservoirs had 76% live storage on Monday morning, but Tamil Nadu had received only 14 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) against its entitlement of 64 TMC under the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award. Tamil Nadu claimed a shortfall of approximately 20 TMC, stating it should have received 55.29% despite lower water availability this year.

Representing Karnataka, Senior Advocate Shyam Divan contested the allegations, stating that the state was experiencing "extremely severe distress" in the Cauvery basin. He said the CWMA had factored in the prevailing ground conditions when deciding the release volumes.

Divan submitted that the Authority had previously ordered Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs for 15 days ending August 11, a requirement he said the state had met and exceeded. He noted that water released from the Krishna Raja Sagara reservoir takes around 48 hours to travel downstream, requiring procedural adjustments in releases.

While acknowledging that Karnataka had initially struggled to sustain the subsequent 12,000-cusecs flow ordered from August 12—with discharges hovering near 6,000 cusecs for four to five days—Divan told the bench that flow had increased to 12,607 cusecs by Monday morning. He added that the state would attempt to sustain the mandated 12,000-cusecs discharge and compensate for the deficit.

Tamil Nadu had approached the Supreme Court on August 3 seeking enforcement of the CWMA's July 30 order, which mandated the release of 3,500 cusecs for 15 days amounting to 4.536 TMC by August 12 from Karnataka's Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagara reservoirs.