SC Cauvery verdict: TN share cut, K’taka gets additional 14.75 tmc water

New Delhi: In a much awaited verdict on the 126-year-old Cauvery water dispute, the Supreme Court on Friday directed Karnataka to release 177.25 tmc of water to Tamil Nadu, thereby increasing the share of Karnataka by 14.75 tmc.

The Supreme Court said that 20 tmc of ground water in Tamil Nadu had not been accounted for and needed to be seen.

The apex court made it clear that increase in share of Cauvery water for Karnataka by 14.75 tmc has been done keeping in view the fact that there is an increased demand of drinking water by Bengaluru and also for many industrial activities.

The SC said that its order on Cauvery water allocation would continue for next 15 years.

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had approached the Supreme Court after the Cauvery River Water Dispute Tribunal, in 2007, awarded yearly allocation of 419 tmc to Tamil Nadu in the entire Cauvery basin, 270 tmc to Karnataka, 30 tmc to Kerala and 7 tmc to Puducherry.

A three-judge Bench of Chief Justices Dipak Misra and Justices Amitav Roy and DY Chandrachud had reserved judgment on September 20, 2017 on appeals against the Cauvery Disputes Tribunal's final award of February 2007 on allocation of water for Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry.

Out of 740 tmc ft of water available in the Cauvery basin, the Tribunal directed Karnataka to release 192 tmc ft of water to Tamil Nadu, and apportioned 270 tmc ft to Karnataka; 30 tmc ft to Kerala and seven tmc ft to Puducherry.

While it took nearly two decades for the Tribunal to render its final decision in 2007, it has taken a decade for the case to conclude in the cross appeals against the award filed by the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

Karnataka welcomed the verdict terming it as a "balanced" one which protects the interest of both the states.

"This is a good judgement which will go long way in ensuring peace in both the states," Mohan V Katarki, counsel for the state of Karnataka said.

On the other hand, Tamil Nadu expressed its unhappiness over the verdict.

"We believe in the verdict of the court and respect it. Surely, this is not enough. We have raised the shortfall of water with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari who have two plans to address the issue, one of which is linking river Godavari with Kallanai," lawyer for Tamil Nadu, A Navaneethakrishnan said.