Cauvery Water Dispute

26-08-2023

01:27 PM

1 min read

Mains GS-II: Governance

What’s in today’s article?

Why in news?
Cauvery river
Cauvery water dispute
News Summary: Cauvery water sharing issue
How is the water being shared?
Why has T.N. approached the SC?

Why in news?

Recently, the Tamil Nadu government sought the Supreme Court’s intervention to make Karnataka immediately release 24,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) from its reservoirs.
It also urged the Court to direct Karnataka to ensure the release of 36.76 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) stipulated for September 2023 as per the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT)’s final award of February 2007.
- This was modified by the SC in 2018.

Cauvery river

Image Caption: Cauvery River

Cauvery (or Kaveri) is the largest river in the state and originates at Talakaveri at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri hills of the Western Ghats in Karnataka.
It is often called the Dakshina Ganga (the Ganges of the South) and considered one of the sacred rivers of India.
The origin of the River Kaveri, is a famous pilgrimage and tourist spot set amidst Bramahagiri Hills near Madikeri in Coorg.
The tributaries of the Kaveri include:
- Harangi, Hemavathi (origin in western Ghats joins the river Kaveri near Krishnarajasagar), Lakshmanatirtha,
- Kabini (originates in Kerala and flows eastward and joins the Kaveri at Tirumakudal, Narasipur),
- Shimsha, Arkavati, Suvarnavathi or Honnuholé, Bhavani, Lokapavani, Noyyal, Amaravati.

Cauvery Water Dispute

About
- The dispute is related to a long-standing conflict over the sharing of water from the Cauvery River.
- It involves 3 states and one Union Territory: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Puducherry.
- The dispute revolves around how the river water should be distributed among these states for various uses, including irrigation, drinking water, and industrial purposes.
Background
- This dispute originated for the first-time way back in 1892 at the time of Britishers between the Presidency of Madras and Princely state of Mysore.
- In 1924 Mysore and Madras reached into an agreement which will be valid for 50 years. Hence, it ceased to be enforced in 1974.
- Since 1974, Karnataka started diverting water into its four newly made reservoirs, without the consent of Tamil Nadu.
- This resulted in dispute in post independent India.
Formation of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and its final award
- In accordance with Section 4 of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956, the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) was formed in June 1990.
- After 17 years, the CWDT issued its final award in February 2007, specifying the amount of water that each state should receive during different periods of the year.
- While considering that the total availability of water the Cauvery basin spread across the 4 states is 740 TMC in a normal year the Tribunal has allocated the water as follows:
  - Tamil Nadu: 419 TMC (which had demanded 512 TMC),
  - Karnataka: 270 TMC (which had demanded 465 TMC),
  - Kerala: 30 TMC, and
  - Pondicherry: 7 TMC
- The final award reserved 10 TMC for environmental purposes and 4 TMC for inevitable outlets into the sea.
- The tribunal mandated the constitution of a monitoring authority to regulate the release of water.
- The final award, however, had not given a detailed formula in situations when there is shortage of water due to insufficient rains.
  - It merely said that in such situations, the allocated shares should be proportionally reduced.
Subsequent development
- The government again took 6 year and notified the order in 2013 on the direction of the Supreme Court.
- Later, Tamil Nadu government had approached the Supreme Court with the special leave petition under Article 136.
  - The Tamil Nadu Government had approached the court because Karnataka government was not following the award of the tribunal.
  - Article 136 makes the Supreme Court highest appellate court.
  - It says notwithstanding anything in this Chapter, the Supreme Court may, in its discretion can grant special leave to appeal from any judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order passed by any court or tribunal in the territory of India.
- The apex court delivered its judgement in 2018. In its judgement, the apex court declared Cauvery a national asset.
- It largely upheld the water-sharing arrangements finalised by the CWDT.
  - As per the judgement, Karnataka would get 284.75 TMC, Tamil Nadu 404.25 TMC, Kerala 30 TMC and Puducherry 7 TMC.
  - It also directed the Centre to notify the Cauvery Management Scheme.
  - The central government notified the ‘Cauvery Water Management Scheme’ in June 2018.
  - It constituted the ‘Cauvery Water Management Authority’ (CWMA) and the ‘Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’ (CWRC) to give effect to the decision.

News Summary: Cauvery water sharing issue

How is the water being shared?

A monthly schedule is in place for Karnataka, the upper riparian State of the Cauvery basin, to release water to Tamil Nadu.
As per the schedule, Karnataka is to make available to Tamil Nadu at Biligundlu a total quantity of 177.25 TMC in a “normal” water year (June to May).
Of this quantity, 123.14 TMC is to be given during the period from June to September, also marking the season of the southwest monsoon.
- Invariably, it is during this period that the Cauvery issue gets flared up, when the monsoon yields lower rainfall than anticipated.

Why has T.N. approached the SC?

The CWMA, at its meeting on August 11, wanted Karnataka to manage its releases in such a way that 10,000 cusecs of water was realised at Biligundlu for the next 15 days, starting from August 12.
In other words, Karnataka would have to provide 0.86 TMC a day or 12.9 TMC totally in the 15 days.
But, what apparently irked Tamil Nadu was the refusal of Karnataka during the meeting to abide by the quantity that was agreed upon at the meeting of the CWRC the previous day.
Karnataka has contended that lower rainfall in the Cauvery catchment including in Kerala has led to the poor inflow to its own reservoirs.

Q1) What is a Special Leave Petition?

In the legal context of India, a Special Leave Petition (SLP) is a specific type of petition that can be filed with the Supreme Court of India. It is a discretionary remedy provided by the Constitution of India, granting the Supreme Court the authority to hear and decide cases that involve significant legal questions or issues of national importance.

Q2) What is the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC)?

The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) was later established to implement and monitor the CWDT's award and regulate the distribution of water according to its provisions. The committee's responsibilities include monitoring water releases from Karnataka's reservoirs and ensuring that the allocated amounts of water are delivered to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry as per the established formula.

Source: Ministry of Jal Shakti | Outlook India Legal Service India