CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday urged the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to direct the upper riparian state of Karnataka to release 2.5 TMC of water from the Cauvery basin.

The CWMA meeting, chaired by Saumitra Kumar Haldar, was held via video conference.

Representing Tamil Nadu, Water Resources Secretary J Jayakanthan and Cauvery Technical Committee Chairman R Subramanian participated.

Officials said Karnataka's primary representative did not attend the meeting, and a nominee participated instead.

During the deliberations, Karnataka argued that the excess water released downstream to Biligundlu, the inter-state border point, should be factored into the overall calculation of water sharing.

The state claimed it had released 326.945 TMC between June 1, 2025 and April 27, 2026, compared to the stipulated 174.500 TMC.

Tamil Nadu, however, strongly opposed this position. State representatives argued that surplus water released due to storage constraints in reservoirs cannot be counted as part of Karnataka's allocated share.

"Karnataka cannot claim credit for excess water released when it was unable to store it in its reservoirs," a Tamil Nadu representative said during the meeting.

The storage level of Mettur dam was 42.397 TMC as on April 28, and 1,503 cubic feet of water has been released for drinking water and industrial purposes.