Editor's Pick: Karnataka asked to release 3k cusecs Cauvery water to TN

The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Friday upheld the decision of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) asking Karnataka to release 3,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) to Tamil Nadu till October 15. It also told Karnataka to make good the shortfall of 0.71 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) that arose during the 15-day period that ended on September 27. The CWRC took its decision at its meeting on September 26. However, the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government is slated to file review petitions before the Supreme Court and CWMA on Saturday. It has also decided to form an advisory panel to collect data and provide advice to the government on the issue. After Friday’s meeting, which lasted nearly two hours, CWMA chairman Saumitra Kumar Haldar told The Hindu from New Delhi that barring Karnataka, representatives of the other basin States joined the discussion through videoconference. As for Tamil Nadu, the officiating Principal Secretary for Water Resources, K. Manivasan, attended the meeting online, while Cauvery Technical Cell chairperson R. Subramanian was present in New Delhi. As in the past, there was an intense exchange of views between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. While the former wanted continuous release of water and demanded 12,500 cusecs, the latter referred to difficulties in continuing with the supply. Karnataka also pointed out that it was only dependent on the southwest monsoon, which had played truant this year, but Tamil Nadu could fall back on the northeast monsoon which would set in during the third or fourth week of October. According to data of the Central Water Commission available up to September 26 this year, the realisation of the Cauvery water at Biligundulu this month was 11.8 tmc ft and since June 1, the total was 43.73 tmc ft. In a normal year, the State should have got nearly 75 tmc ft more as of now. As on Friday morning, four reservoirs of Karnataka in the Cauvery basin had a combined gross storage of 59.65 tmc ft. As per the latest direction of the CWMA, Karnataka will have to release totally 5.38 tmc ft till October 15. Asked whether either of the States raised the issue of sending a fact-finding committee to ascertain the level of distress in the Cauvery basin, Mr. Haldar replied in the negative. A similar panel was constituted by the Union government on October 4, 2016, on the direction of the Supreme Court. After visiting these two States, the panel submitted its report on October 17 that year. In its conclusions, the panel did not quantify how much water should be released by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu. But it indicated that while Karnataka should appreciate the matter of protection of established irrigation in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the lower basin State should factor in the aspirations of the upper riparian State for developing its network. Meanwhile, the Karnataka bandh called over the inter-State Cauvery water dispute passed off peacefully on Friday, with the State capital Bengaluru and districts in the Cauvery basin region seeing the most impact. In an editorial, The Hindu had pointed out that while it is inevitable that neither State will be will be satisfied with the quantum of release ordered by the CWMA, politics should yield to domain expertise. Read this explainer for the reasons why there is such a state of disharmony over sharing Cauvery waters by both States. The Hindu’s Editorials Extended exclusion: On AFSPA in Manipur Troubled waters: On the China-Philippines tensions in the South China Sea The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz In which Indian State is it legal to donate a kidney out of altruism? Kerala Maharashtra Arunachal Pradesh West Bengal To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 30 September 2023 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow] Open in browser [Mail icon] More newsletters Cauvery: Karnataka asked to release 3k cusecs to TN The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Friday [upheld the decision]( the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) asking Karnataka to release 3,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) to Tamil Nadu till October 15. It also told Karnataka to make good the shortfall of 0.71 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) that arose during the 15-day period that ended on September 27. The CWRC took its decision at its meeting on September 26. However, the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government is slated to file review petitions before the Supreme Court and CWMA on Saturday. It has also decided to form an advisory panel to collect data and provide advice to the government on the issue. After Friday’s meeting, which lasted nearly two hours, CWMA chairman Saumitra Kumar Haldar told The Hindu from New Delhi that barring Karnataka, representatives of the other basin States joined the discussion through videoconference. As for Tamil Nadu, the officiating Principal Secretary for Water Resources, K. Manivasan, attended the meeting online, while Cauvery Technical Cell chairperson R. Subramanian was present in New Delhi. As in the past, there was an intense exchange of views between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. While the former wanted continuous release of water and demanded 12,500 cusecs, the latter referred to difficulties in continuing with the supply. Karnataka also pointed out that it was only dependent on the southwest monsoon, which had played truant this year, but Tamil Nadu could fall back on the northeast monsoon which would set in during the third or fourth week of October. According to data of the Central Water Commission available up to September 26 this year, the realisation of the Cauvery water at Biligundulu this month was 11.8 tmc ft and since June 1, the total was 43.73 tmc ft. In a normal year, the State should have got nearly 75 tmc ft more as of now. As on Friday morning, four reservoirs of Karnataka in the Cauvery basin had a combined gross storage of 59.65 tmc ft. As per the latest direction of the CWMA, Karnataka will have to release totally 5.38 tmc ft till October 15. Asked whether either of the States raised the issue of sending a fact-finding committee to ascertain the level of distress in the Cauvery basin, Mr. Haldar replied in the negative. A similar panel was constituted by the Union government on October 4, 2016, on the direction of the Supreme Court. After visiting these two States, the panel submitted its report on October 17 that year. In its conclusions, the panel did not quantify how much water should be released by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu. But it indicated that while Karnataka should appreciate the matter of protection of established irrigation in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the lower basin State should factor in the aspirations of the upper riparian State for developing its network. Meanwhile, the Karnataka bandh called over the inter-State Cauvery water dispute passed off peacefully on Friday, with the State capital Bengaluru and districts in the Cauvery basin region seeing the most impact. In [an editorial]( The Hindu had pointed out that while it is inevitable that neither State will be will be satisfied with the quantum of release ordered by the CWMA, politics should yield to domain expertise. Read [this explainer]( for the reasons why there is such a state of disharmony over sharing Cauvery waters by both States. The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][Extended exclusion: On AFSPA in Manipur]( [Arrow][Troubled waters: On the China-Philippines tensions in the South China Sea]( The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz In which Indian State is it legal to donate a kidney out of altruism? - Kerala - Maharashtra - Arunachal Pradesh - West Bengal To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here.]( [Sign up for free]( Today’s Best Reads [[In Gujarat, a feud over grains] In Gujarat, a feud over grains]( [[What is the 1992 Vachathi brutality all about? | Explained] What is the 1992 Vachathi brutality all about? | Explained]( [[Asian Games 2023 | India medal tally and full list of winners] Asian Games 2023 | India medal tally and full list of winners]( [[A Mysuru school, Shakthidhama’s new spin on Gandhi] A Mysuru school, Shakthidhama’s new spin on Gandhi]( Copyright @ 2023, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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