From The Hindu · · 2m
Water authority orders Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu
The Cauvery Water Management Authority upholds a direction for Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, despite the state's drought.
In brief
The Cauvery Water Management Authority upholds a direction for Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, despite the state's drought. India's Cauvery Water Management Authority ordered drought-stricken Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu despite the state's severe water shortage and 54…
Authority orders water release
The Cauvery Water Management Authority upheld a direction on Thursday for Karnataka to release water at three thousand cusecs a day to Tamil Nadu for fifteen days, totalling three point eighty eight tmcft.
Release starts Friday morning
The release must commence from eight a.m. on October ninth, Friday, and be ensured at Biligundlu inter-state water gauge, according to the authority's order.
Karnataka's severe water shortage
Karnataka argued it faces serious hydrological distress marked by fifty four percent deficit in cumulative inflows to its four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin and must prioritise drinking water requirements.
State's water storage crisis
Karnataka said its four reservoirs had received only two hundred fifty seven point six three three tmcft against the thirty year average of two hundred fifty seven point six three three tmcft, with no replenishment expected after the southwest monsoon ended.
Tamil Nadu's delayed irrigation
Tamil Nadu maintained that water release towards irrigating its samba crop had been delayed by eighty one days, leading to crop stress, and that it had received only forty six point zero four seven tmcft against the stipulated one hundred twenty seven point seven zero six tmcft.
Tamil Nadu seeks backlog clearance
Tamil Nadu appealed to the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee to direct Karnataka to clear a backlog of fifteen point zero two two tmcft owed to the state.
Committee upholds release order
After hearing both states, the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee directed Karnataka to ensure the release of three thousand cusecs a day for fifteen days, aggregating to three point eighty eight tmcft.
At a glance
India's Cauvery Water Management Authority ordered drought-stricken Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu despite the state's severe water shortage and 54 percent deficit in reservoir inflows.
