Tamil Nadu-Karnataka Cauvery Row | Supreme Court To Form New Bench For River Dispute

Relevance: GS2 - Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary, Dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions, Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure,

(Source: The Hindu, 08/21/2023)

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Why in the news?

• Recently, the Chief Justice of India agreed to constitute a new bench to hear the State of Tamil Nadu’s plea on the Cauvery River water dispute.
• Tamil Nadu urged the Supreme Court to issue directions to Karnataka to release the stipulated amount of water for September as per the Cauvery Tribunal Award as amended by the Supreme Court.

Why has Tamil Nadu approached the Supreme Court?

• On August 10th, Karnataka was directed to release 15,000 cusecs of water from its reservoirs at Billigundulu on August 11 for 15 days.
• However, this was arbitrarily reduced to 10,000 cusecs by the Cauvery Water Management Authority in its 22nd meeting held on August 11 due to Karnataka’s insistence.
  • This amounted to around 0.86 TMC a day or a total of 12.9 TMC in 15 days.
• Tamil Nadu has claimed that Karnataka has not complied with the directive to release this lowered quantity of water from the KRS and Kabini reservoirs.
  • According to Karnataka, there has been a poor inflow to its reservoirs due to the lower rainfall in the Cauvery catchment region including Kerala.
• Tamil Nadu urged the Court to constitute a bench to direct the release of Cauvery water for August as per the Cauvery Water Management Authority order as The water was necessary to meet the pressing demands of the standing crops.
• Tamil Nadu’s Requests:
  • Direct Karnataka to release 24,000 cusecs of water from its Billigundulu reservoirs for the remainder of August.
  • Ensure the release of stipulated water for September 2023 (36.76 TMC).
  • Karnataka should compensate for the shortfall of 28.849 TMC water during the current irrigation year.
  • Direct the Cauvery Water Management Authority to ensure that the directions issued to Karnataka re implemented.

Court’s response

The Chief Justice of India stated that a bench would be constituted immediately to hear the State’s plea.

What is the Cauvery water dispute?

• The Cauvery water dispute is a long-standing dispute over the sharing of river water from the Cauvery River among the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the Union Territory of Pondicherry.
• The major point of contention among the parties is the distribution of river water among them for various purposes such as irrigation, drinking water, and industrial purposes.

History

• The origin of the dispute can be traced back to British rule in the form of a dispute between the Presidency of Madras and the erstwhile Princely state of Mysore.
• An agreement was reached for the sharing of water between the two states in 1924.
  • However, the agreement was valid only for 50 years and expired in 1974.
• Following the expiry of the 1924 agreement, Karnataka began to divert water into its four reservoirs.
• This resulted in a dispute among the states on the use of riparian water.

Tribunal

• The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) was established in 1990 as per Section 4 of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956.
• The CWDT issued its final award in February 2007.
  • It specified the amount of water to be received by each state during different periods of the year.
• Award: Assuming that the total availability of water in the Cauvery basin is 740 TMC in a normal year - Tamil Nadu (419 TMC), Karnataka (270 TMC), Kerala (30 TMC), Pondicherry (7 TMC).
  • 10 TMC was reserved for environmental purposes and 4 TMC for inevitable release into the sea.
• However, the CWDT has not given a detailed formula of distribution when there is shortage of water due to insufficient rains.
  • The award states that the allocated shares should be proportionally reduced during water shortages.

Subsequent verdict of the SC

• The order of the tribunal was notified only in 2013 following the directions of the Supreme Court.
• Tamil Nadu approached the Supreme Court through a Special leave petition under Article 136 because Karnataka was not adhering to the provisions of the award.
• In 2018, the SC declared the River Cauvery a national asset and upheld the water-sharing arrangements which had been finalized by the CWDT.
  • It ruled that Karnataka would get 284.75 TMC, Tamil Nadu 404.25 TMC, Kerala 30 TMC and Puducherry 7 TMC.
  • The Union Government was directed to notify the Cauvery Management Scheme
• The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) was established to implement the decision of the Court and the tribunal.

River Cauvery Origin: The River Cauvery (Kaveri) originates at Talakaveri at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri hills located in the Western Ghats in Karnataka. It is the third largest river of South India behind the Godavari and the Krishna. It is a perennial river with very few fluctuations in water flow making it an important river for irrigation and hydroelectricity generation. Extent: The Kaveri river extends for 800 Kms from its origin to the Bay of Bengal. The majority of this lies in Tamil Nadu (416 Kms) and Karnataka (320 Kms). Tributaries: Left Bank: Harangi, Hemavathi, Shimsha, and Arkavathi Right Bank: Lakshmanthirta, Kabini, Suvarnavathi, Bhavani, Noyil, Amaravathi Geography of the basin: It is made up of the Western Ghats, the Mysore plateau region, and the Kaveri delta. The delta areas is extremely fertile and is mainly composed of alluvial soils while the largest portions of the basin consist of red soils. Other major types of soil in the region are black soils, laterites, mixed soils and forest soils. Source of the water: The Kaveri basin receives rainfall from both the South-West Monsoon and North-East Monsoon. Karnataka receives rainfall mostly from the South-West Monsoon while Tamil Nadu receives rainfall primarily from the North-East Monsoon. To know more about the Kaveri, click the link.

To know more about river water disputes in Idia, click the link.

FAQs

MCQs

Question: Consider the following pairs Wildlife Naturally found in

1. Blue-finned Mahseer - Cauvery River
2. Irrawaddy Dolphin - Chambal River
3. Rusty-spotted Cat - Eastern Ghats

Which of the pairs given correctly matched? (UPSC CSE 2019)

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Question: Consider the following pairs:

Famous place River

1. Pandharpur Chandrabhaga

2.Tiruchirappalli Cauvery

3.Hampi Malaprabha

Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched? (UPSC CSE 2019)

1 and 2 only

2 and 3 only

1 and 3 only

1, 2 and 3

Question: In which of the following regions of India are shale gas resources found?

1. Cambay Basin
2. Cauvery Basin
3. Krishna-Godavari Basin

Select the correct answer using the code given below. (UPSC CSE 2016)

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3