TN: CM Stalin to move resolution in Assembly asking Centre to direct Karnataka to release Cauvery water

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India]: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin will move a resolution in the Assembly on Monday requesting the Centre to direct the Karnataka Government to release Cauvery water as per the orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority.

Earlier Karnataka government had cited a severe drought in parts of its state to refuse the supply of water to Tamil Nadu. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on October 5 said that cumulative inflows into the reservoirs in Karnataka’s Cauvery basin are decreasing. He also said that water in the reservoirs is just above half of what is needed.

“We need 106 Thousand Million Cubic feet (TMC) of water (in the reservoirs) but we have 56 TMC water at present in the reservoirs. We have got around 25 cusecs(cubic feet per second) of water after a small rain. Inflow is decreasing,” Shivakumar had said in a press conference.

the Karnataka Deputy CM also said that the agricultural department was asked to consider not allowing the next cultivation of crops in the Cauvery basin area due to the paucity of water in the reservoirs.”We have to save the standing crops, drought has been announced.

We have also asked the agricultural department to consider not allowing for the next cultivation. We are expecting more rain. This year is a distress year,” Shivakumar said.

Farmers in both states are protesting in the Cauvery water row. The governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been locked in a protracted tussle over the sharing of Cauvery waters. The river is seen as a major source of sustenance for the people in the two states.

The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee had ordered Karnataka to ensure the release of 3,000 cusecs of Cauvery water at Biligundlu starting from September 28 till October 15, 2023.

Karnataka had filed a review petition against the order both in the Supreme Court and in CWMA(Cauvery Water Management Authority. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had earlier expressed his disappointment on the recommendation of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) which has directed Karnataka to ensure the release of 3000 cusecs of Cauvery water at Biligundlu starting from September 28 up to October 15, 2023.

Earlier last week Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin ordered compensation of Rs 13,500 per hectare to delta farmers who were suffering from Kuruvai (paddy) cultivation due to insufficient Cauvery water from Karnataka. Kuruvai cultivation refers to the seasonal cultivation of paddy (rice) during the Kuruvai season in Tamil Nadu.

The Centre formed the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on June 2, 1990, to adjudicate disputes between Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Puducherry with respect to their individual water-sharing capacities.