Supreme Court tells Karnataka to follow Cauvery water order

The Supreme Court on Monday directed Karnataka to comply with the Cauvery Water Management Authority's (CWMA) direction to release water to Tamil Nadu. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta posted the matter for August 24. The court said it wanted an updated status on water released by Karnataka.

Tamil Nadu told the court that the CWMA direction was not being followed and the state was unable to supply water for irrigation. Bar and Bench reports the court observed that Tamil Nadu appeared to be receiving more than its allocated share. The Telangana Today reports that Tamil Nadu's counsel said Karnataka had 76 per cent live storage but had hardly released water.

Karnataka's counsel told the court the picture projected was extremely incorrect. He said there was a severe deficit in the Cauvery basin and the CWMA was aware of the situation. He added that the flow of water to Tamil Nadu exceeded 12,000 cusecs on Monday morning and Karnataka would maintain that level for the rest of the period.