SC refuses to pass order on TN govt's plea for Cauvery water

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has refused to pass any order on the Tamil Nadu government's plea seeking release of 24,000 cusecs of Cauvery water daily by Karnataka for irrigating the standing crops.A three-judge bench headed by Justice BR Gavai sought a report from the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on the amount of water released by Karnataka, after Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati informed the court that a meeting of the authority is scheduled soon.
"We do not possess any expertise on the matter. The ASG informs that authority is meeting to decide discharge of water for next fortnight." "We find that it will be appropriate that CWMA submits its report on whether the directions issued for discharge of water have been complied or not," the bench said.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing Karnataka, said it has been a distressing year for the state, and since it received scanty rainfall, a shortfall in releasing water to Tamil Nadu is inevitable.
He said the water earmarked by CWMA has already been discharged but it takes three days for it to travel to Tamil Nadu.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Tamil Nadu, said water has not been made available to the lower riparian state despite orders from CWMA. The matter will now be taken up for consideration on September 1.
The Karnataka government has described as "wholly misconceived" Tamil Nadu's plea seeking a direction from the top court that it be asked to release 24,000 cusecs (cubic foot per second) of Cauvery water daily for standing crops.
The Karnataka government, in an affidavit filed in the top court, has said Tamil Nadu's plea was based on an incorrect assumption that "the current water year is a normal water year and not a distressed water year".