Cauvery row: TN to demand 16,000 cusecs of water from Karnataka at CWMA meet today

CHENNAI: Amid a fresh wave of protests and war of words over the Cauvery water sharing dispute, Tamil Nadu's Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan said his government would demand the release of 16,000 cusecs of water from the river at a meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) in the national capital on Friday.

Addressing reporters in Chennai on Friday, the minister and DMK leader said, "At the CWMA meeting in Delhi today, our government will demand an immediate order to the Karnataka government to release 16,000 cusecs of water daily from the Cauvery. The Mettur Dam (in Tamil Nadu) has only about 10 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water left. Such has been the level of decline that we are unable to make a decision on whether we should release water to farmers from the dam or preserve it."

After a meeting on October 11, the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) directed the Karnataka government to ensure the release of 3,000 cusecs of water daily from the Cauvery between October 16 and October 31.

The water management authority event released a statement to this effect. However, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said his state will move the Supreme Court again challenging the direction of the CWRC.

"We currently have an inflow of about 8,000-9,000 cusecs of water (in state reservoirs). But we have to protect the interests of our farmers. We will move the Supreme Court challenging this direction by the CWRC. We will face difficulties complying with this direction as several parts of the state are grappling with drought-like conditions," Shivakumar said.

The Cauvery Water Management Authority will take up the CWRC's direction for arbitration at its meeting on Friday.

At the CWRC meeting, the Karnataka government expressed its inability to release water to Biligundlu (on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border) apart from what is channelled from the uncontrolled catchment.

Karnataka government, in its report presented before the CWRC, claimed a substantial 50.891 per cent shortfall in cumulative inflows to its reservoirs up till October 10. This shortfall could be attributed to extreme hydro-meteorological conditions, it added. However, even at the CWRC meeting, Tamil Nadu urged the Karnataka government to release 16,000 cusecs of water over the next 15 days.

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

Karnataka filed a review petition against the direction in the Supreme Court and the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA). Karnataka government had cited a severe drought in parts of the state for its inability to supply Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.