SC asks K’taka to release 6K cusecs per day to TN till Sept 27

New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) Karnataka will have to release6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu fromtomorrow till September 27, the Supreme Court said today whileraising the quantum the fixed by the Supervisory Committee by3000 cusecs. The apex court also gave liberty to both states to fileobjections against the directions of the Cauvery SupervisoryCommittee yesterday, asking Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecsof water daily to Tamil Nadu between September 21 and 30. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit alsodirected the Centre to constitute within four weeks theCauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) as directed by theCauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in its award. It also directed the Centre to produce before it on thenext date of hearing, the notification indicating that CWMBhas been constituted and said, if required, further directioncan be passed by the apex court to the CWMB. "How long will the two states keep fighting? This disputeis there from 1894. Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) isan expert body and it needs to be constituted. Just becausethe problem had not arisen earlier doesn’t mean that theproblem will never arise in future," the bench told ASG PinkyAnand, appearing for Centre. The apex court took note of the fact that no consensuswas reached among the states before the Supervisory Committeeand Union Water Resources Secretary and Chairman of theCommittee Shashi Shekhar used his power to ask Karnataka torelease 3000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu. Senior advocate and noted jurist F S Nariman, appearingfor Karnataka, opposed the supervisory committee order andsaid the state was aggrieved by the order. "We cannot give water to Tamil Nadu from our drinkingwater supply," Nariman said while opposing any interimarrangement for release of Cauvery water. Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for TamilNadu, also opposed the directions, saying the supervisorycommittee has not considered all aspects while passing theorder. He said the committee had failed to consider the factthat it was a rain deficient year and the quantum of water tobe released has to be done proportionally. "We need water here and now otherwise our Samba cropswhich are planted in August-September and harvested inDecember will be destroyed," Naphade said. (More) PTI MNL SJKRKSARC