Supreme Court to hear Tamil Nadu plea on Cauvery water on August 17

The Supreme Court will hear on Monday Tamil Nadu's plea seeking immediate release of Cauvery water from Karnataka. The matter will be taken up by a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. Tamil Nadu claims Karnataka has not complied with the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's order to release 3,500 cusecs daily, releasing only 158 to 550 cusecs between July 29 and August 2.

Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the state faces the dual challenge of protecting farmers and abiding by legal water-sharing obligations. He noted that dams have not filled yet and urged good rainfall. The Cauvery Water Management Authority has directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs daily from August 12 for 15 days, a order the Karnataka government plans to challenge in the Supreme Court.

Tamil Nadu's government says Karnataka's reservoirs hold 77.537 TMC as of August 3 and that releasing its due share should not be difficult. The Cauvery Water Management Authority allocated 4.536 TMC, which Tamil Nadu calls insufficient, arguing that Karnataka should release 26.954 TMC based on recent rains in catchment areas.