The Supreme Court of India will hear on August 17 a batch of petitions filed by the Tamil Nadu government, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and agricultural groups seeking directions for Karnataka to immediately release Cauvery river water to its downstream neighbor.
The matter was originally slated for a hearing on August 13 before a bench led by Justice Vikram Nath. However, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant stated on Wednesday that Justice Nath was unwell, prompting the rescheduling. The announcement was made when senior advocate P. Wilson, representing a group of farmers, mentioned a separate petition requesting an urgent hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana.
Disputed Allocations and Discharges
The dispute centers on an August 3 petition submitted by the Joseph Vijay-led Tamil Nadu government, which contended that the state is facing a severe water deficit in a rain-short year due to insufficient releases from Karnataka. Tamil Nadu asserted that the volumes released by Karnataka and those mandated by regulatory bodies fall well short of the state’s legal entitlement.
According to the petition, a Cauvery Water Regulation Committee meeting held on July 28 directed Karnataka to discharge 3,500 cusecs of water daily for a 15-day period starting July 29. State authorities noted, however, that actual inflows measured at the Biligundlu gauge station ranged between only 158 and 550 cusecs daily from July 29 to August 2.
Reservoir Capacities and Water Share Demands
In an official press statement, the Tamil Nadu government highlighted that as of August 3, the total combined storage in Karnataka’s four principal reservoirs—Krishna Raja Sagara, Kabini, Harangi, and Hemavathy—stood at 77.537 thousand million cubic feet (TMC). The state argued that Karnataka holds sufficient reserves to release Tamil Nadu’s proportionate share without encountering local supply difficulties.
Following recent rainfall across the catchment areas of the KRS and Kabini dams, Tamil Nadu calculated that its proportionate share to be received at Biligundlu should total 26.954 TMC. The state criticized a separate order from the Cauvery Water Management Authority allocating 4.536 TMC as inadequate, reiterating that Karnataka has failed to fulfill its obligation to supply the full 26.954 TMC share.
