Cauvery ruling: TN share cut, K'taka to get more

New Delhi: India's top court on Friday directed the Karnataka government to release 177.25 tmcft of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from its inter-state Biligundlu dam.

The judgement clarified that Karnataka will now have an enhanced share of 14.75 tmcft water per year while Tamil Nadu will get 404.25 tmcft, which will be 14.75 tmcft less than what was allotted by the tribunal in 2007.

Earlier, under the 2007 award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal (CWDT), Karnataka had a share of 270 tmcft of Cauvery water. This will now increase to 284.75 tmcft.

The long-awaited judgement was pronounced by a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar, which had on September 20 last year reserved the verdict on the appeals filed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala against the 2007 award of the tribunal.

Reading out the operative portion of the verdict, the chief justice said the 2007 tribunal award of 30 tmcft to Kerala and seven tmcft water to Puducherry will remain unchanged.

The apex court also allowed Tamil Nadu to draw an additional ten tmcft 'groundwater' from a total of 20 tmcft beneath the Cauvery basin.

It said the increase in the share of Cauvery water for Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft is because of the ten tmcft groundwater and 4.75 tmcft drinking water requirement for Bengaluru residents.

Stating that drinking water has to be kept on the highest pedestal, it said its order on Cauvery water allocation would continue for the next 15 years.

During the pendency of appeals of the neighbouring states against the arbitral award of 2007, the apex court had passed several orders directing Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

On September 30, 2016, it had pulled up Karnataka for its repeated "defiance" in flouting its orders on the issue and said no one would know when the "wrath of the law" would fall on it.

Later, Karnataka had moved a review petition in the apex court against its three orders on the issue and direction to the Centre to create the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB). It said "grave miscarriage of justice" was caused by it following the three apex court orders of September 20, 27 and 30, 2016, by which it was directed to release water.

Tamil Nadu had earlier as well alleged that Kerala was drawing water more than what was allocated to it by the tribunal.

The apex court had on December 9, 2016, upheld the maintainability of appeals filed by the riparian states, saying it has the "jurisdiction to decide the parameters, scope, authority and jurisdiction of the tribunal".