CWMA holds Karnataka to 9,000 cusecs a day for Tamil Nadu for 15 days

The Cauvery Water Management Authority on Tuesday upheld a direction that Karnataka must keep 9,000 cusecs flowing to Tamil Nadu at the Biligundulu border point for 15 days. The volume works out to about 11.66 thousand million cubic feet.

The decision came at the authority's 56th meeting in New Delhi, chaired by S.K. Haldar. Officials from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala attended. Tamil Nadu was represented by Water Resources Secretary Prashant M. Wadnere and Cauvery Technical Cell chairman Thiru Subramanian. Karnataka's additional chief secretary for water resources, Gaurav Gupta, told reporters the arithmetic after the meeting.

What each state asked for

The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee, at its 141st sitting on Monday, had already set the 9,000-cusec figure. Karnataka asked the authority to cut it to 6,000 cusecs. Tamil Nadu asked for 28 TMC, more than double the committee's 11.66 TMC. After the arguments, the authority repeated the committee's number.

The meeting followed a Supreme Court instruction on Monday that Tamil Nadu should take its complaint about short releases to the CWMA rather than keep the fight only in court. An earlier committee order had told Karnataka to send 12,000 cusecs a day for 15 days from 12 August. That higher figure was also upheld at the time. The new order lowers the daily rate and restarts the 15-day clock from 25 August.

Karnataka's offset argument

Advocate Shivakumar S. Katarki, who has appeared for Karnataka in the dispute, said the state had already sent about 32,493 cusecs of excess water between 29 July and 24 August. He argued that surplus can be set off against the next 15 days through controlled releases from Kabini and Krishnarajasagara. He also said 9,000 cusecs is not a rigid daily minimum that must be hit on every clock hour.

Gupta had filed an urgent note asking the authority to revisit the resolution of its 55th meeting on 11 August. That plea failed. Farmers in Mandya and other Cauvery basin taluks have already protested against further releases. July rainfall in the basin was poor. August rainfall improved. Drinking-water officials say city supply is not the immediate risk. Canal irrigation is.

What the water is for

Tamil Nadu says the 11.66 TMC will support Kuruvai paddy and drinking-water schemes that depend on the river in the delta. Karnataka says a second fortnight of forced outflow, after the 12,000-cusec round, will cut into storage that the state needs if the late monsoon fades. Both claims can be true in the same week. That is why the authority exists, and why neither capital treats its numbers as final.

The next facts to watch are the daily gauge readings at Biligundulu and the storage lines at KRS and Kabini. If the 9,000-cusec average is not met, Tamil Nadu will go back to the Supreme Court with a short record. If it is met and Karnataka reservoirs drop faster than the August rains can refill them, the protest in Mandya will have a new storage chart to wave.