New Delhi: Ending the long-running water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the Supreme Court on Friday has ordered Karnataka to provide 177.25 thousand million cubic (TMC) feet of water per year from the Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu.
This entails a 14.75 TMC water reduction to Tamil Nadu because of 10 TMC underground water being available to Tamil Nadu and on account of the requirement of drinking water for Bengaluru.
The SC says the tribunal drastically reduced the amount of water to Karnataka. The SC did not take into account drinking water requirement.
Agreements of 1892 and 1924 are in force that cover larger public interest. Karnataka chose to not denounce the agreements, the apex court said.
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Karnataka will get 285 TMC due to Bengaluru being a global city, said the top court. The amount, however, is 39 TMC less than what the state wanted.
Bengaluru will also receive an additional 4.7 TMC of water, the SC said.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra pronounced the verdict on the appeals filed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala against the 2007 order of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal (CWDT) on sharing of water.
How the Cauvery water dispute began:
The Cauvery water dispute began following Karnataka’s attempts over the last century to expand farming activities in the Cauvery basin. In the past, the river primarily served the needs of farmers in Tamil Nadu. On the insistence of Tamil Nadu, the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal (CWDT) was formed in 1990 by the Union government. The Tribunal passed its order on February 5, 2007. Of the 740 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water available for utilisation, 419 TMC was awarded to Tamil Nadu, 270 TMC to Karnataka, 30 TMC to Kerala and seven TMC to Puducherry. The remaining 14 TMC was reserved for environmental protection.
The order also stated that Karnataka must release 192 TMC of water in normal monsoon years (June to May) at the rate of 10 TMC in June, 34 TMC in July, 50 TMC in August, 40 TMC in September, 22 TMC in October, 15 TMC in November, 8 TMC in December, 3 TMC in January and 2.5 TMC each month from February to May to the Biligundlu water station in Tamil Nadu.
Karnataka opposed the verdict and filed a petition in the apex court claiming 312 TMC of water. Tamil Nadu followed suit. The court reserved its order in September 2017.
Where it all started:
Historically, Tamil Nadu used about 602 TMC of the total yield of the river. As a result, only about 138 TMC was available for Karnataka until the turn of the 20th century.
In 1924, Tamil Nadu built the Mettur dam, and the two states signed an agreement effective for 50 years. The pact allowed Tamil Nadu to expand its agricultural area by 11 lakh acres from the existing 16 lakh acres. Karnataka was authorised to increase its irrigation area from 3 lakh acres to 10 lakh acres.
In 1974, when the accord lapsed, Karnataka claimed that the agreement restricted its ability to develop farming activities along the Cauvery basin. To make up lost ground, it started building reservoirs. This led to a dispute between the two states.