SC defers decision, says don’t have expertise before seeking CWMA report

New Delhi, Aug 26 (FN Bureau) The Supreme Court on Friday asked contending parties to go before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) before passing any order on how much Cauvery water from Karnataka should be released to Tamil Nadu as it did not have expertise on the issue. “Why do you not go before the authority? We do not have expertise in this. How can we pass any order? Please approach the authorities,” Justice BR Gavai said. The three-judge bench also asked the CWMA to submit a report on the issue by September 1. The other two judges on the bench are PS Narasimha and Prashant Kumar Mishra.Appearing for Tamil Nadu government, Senior Advocates CS Vaidyanathan and Mukul Rohatgi asked the apex court to direct Karnataka government to release 10,000 cusecs in the interim as the neighbouring state was facing water shortage. Replying to this, Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Karnataka government, submitted that the state received less rainfall this year. Justice Narasimha added that the authority’s orders were not being complied with. Rohatgi then said that Tamil Nadu was running out of water and that there is a ‘huge deficit’.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Central government, then informed the Bench that the CWMA would be meeting on Monday. The Supreme Court was hearing the State of Tamil Nadu’s application seeking fresh directions for release of Cauvery river water from Karnataka, reported Bar and Bench. The Tamil Nadu government has claimed that the neighbouring State “changed its stand”, and has released only a reduced quantum of 8,000 cusecs of water as against 15,000 cusecs that was agreed upon earlier. The application by the Tamil Nadu government was filed days after Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in the matter. In a counter-affidavit, the Karnataka government told the Supreme Court that the neighbouring State’s plea is misconceived since there is a distress condition due to the failure of the monsoon. Further, it claimed that Tamil Nadu has misused the carry-over storage of water by drawing 69.777 TMC excessively. In February 2018, the Supreme Court passed its verdict in the Cauvery river case, observing that water bodies are national assets and that no one State could claim exclusive rights over them.

The Karnataka-Tamil Nadu dispute over the water of the Cauvery river dates back to two agreements in 1892 and 1924 between the erstwhile Madras Presidency and the Princely State of Mysore. After several rounds of failed negotiations, the Supreme Court directed the constitution of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, which had given its award in 2007, allowing Tamil Nadu to draw a fixed amount of water every day. However, the dispute continued after both states filed petitions to review the decision. In 2016, Tamil Nadu again petitioned the Supreme Court as Karnataka submitted that it had no more water to share from its reservoir. Subsequently, the top court had asked the Central government to constitute a Cauvery Management Board (CMB). The two States have another water-sharing dispute pending before the apex court. That case concerns the Pennaiyar river. The Tamil Nadu government had filed an original suit in the matter against the Karnataka government and the Central government.