Tamil Nadu on Friday decided to move the Supreme Court against Karnataka’s refusal to release Cauvery water due for three months beginning June to the neighbouring state where farmers in the Delta region fear non-availability of water will affect their kuruvai (short-term) crops.
Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan accused Karnataka of not respecting the 2018 Supreme Court verdict which re-allotted the quantum of water to be released to Tamil Nadu every month.
His statement comes after Karnataka said it will only release 8,000 cusecs of water till August 22 at the meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority in New Delhi on Friday, prompting Tamil Nadu to stage a walkout.
The minister said Karnataka changed its stand at the meeting on Friday after accepting the unanimous decision taken at the meeting of the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee on Thursday to release 15,000 cusecs of water a day to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.
Karnataka should have released 55.7703 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu between June 1 and August 11, but the state has received just 15.7993 tmcft of water, which amounts to a deficiency of 37.9710 tmcft of water, Durai Murugan added.
The minister and Chief Minister M K Stalin wrote to Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Shekhawat and Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking their intervention in asking Karnataka to release the stipulated amount of water to Tamil Nadu. However, Karnataka didn’t budge from its stand.
Accusing the Prime Minister and the Union Jal Shakti Minister of “not doing their duty”, Durai Murugan said the combined storage of four reservoirs in Karnataka is 93.535 tmcft against the total storage capacity of 114.571 tmcft.
“Karnataka is not facing a water shortage. It doesn’t have the heart to release water to Tamil Nadu. This has been the stand taken by Karnataka since the inter-state water dispute broke between the two states. Karnataka isn’t bothered about our crops. So, Tamil Nadu has no option but to go to the Supreme Court. We will move the court very soon,” Durai Murugan added.
Tamil Nadu has ruled out talks with Karnataka over the sharing of Cauvery water, contending that it was after the failure of several dialogue, the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted, and the Supreme Court accepted its award with slight modifications.
While Tamil Nadu wants the monthly schedule to be adhered to without fail, Karnataka says it can release water only after catering to the needs of its people and farmers.