CWMA meeting in Delhi today regarding Cauvery water dispute, Tamil Nadu will demand 16,000 cusecs of water from Karnataka

Amid protests over the Cauvery water-sharing dispute, Tamil Nadu today demanded 16,000 cusecs of water from Karnataka at the CWMA meeting.

A meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) was held in Delhi on Friday. Regarding this, Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan had said that his government will demand the release of 16,000 cusecs of water from the Kaveri River in this meeting.

Addressing reporters in Chennai, minister, and DMK leader Durai Murugan said, 'Today at the CWMA meeting in Delhi, our government will demand an immediate order to the Karnataka government to release 16,000 cusecs of water per day from Cauvery. He further said that only 10 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water is left in the Mettur Dam located in Tamil Nadu. The level of degradation has become such that we are unable to make a decision whether we should release water from the dam for farmers or conserve it.

Earlier, after a meeting held on October 11, the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee directed the Karnataka government to ensure the daily release of 3,000 cusecs of water from the Cauvery between October 16 and October 31. The Water Management Authority Program also issued a statement to this effect. However, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that his state will again approach the Supreme Court challenging the CWRC direction.

Shivakumar said, 'Currently we have around 8,000-9,000 cusecs of water inflow (into the state's reservoirs). But, we have to protect the interests of our farmers. We will go to the Supreme Court challenging this direction of CWRC. He further said that we will face difficulties in complying with this direction as many parts of the state are facing drought-like situations.

The Cauvery Water Management Authority will consider the CWRC's direction for mediation in its meeting on Friday. At the CWRC meeting, the Karnataka government also expressed its inability to release water into Biligundlu (on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border) other than water from the uncontrolled catchment area.

The Karnataka government, in its report submitted before the CWRC, has claimed that there has been a huge decline of 50.891 percent in the cumulative flow in its reservoirs till October 10. It said the decline could be attributed to extreme hydro-meteorological conditions.

However, even at the CWRC meeting, Tamil Nadu urged the Karnataka government to release 16,000 cusecs of water in the next 15 days. Earlier, in September, the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee had ordered Karnataka to ensure the release of 3,000 cusecs of Cauvery water at Biligundlu from September 28 to October 15.

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