CWMA upholds Karnataka water release to Tamil Nadu; CM DK Shivakumar calls all-party meet on Sunday

Bengaluru: The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Thursday upheld the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's (CWRC) directive asking Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days from July 29, amounting to about four tmc ft.

The Authority rejected Karnataka's plea that the state was facing acute hydrological distress. Karnataka submitted that inflows into its reservoirs were 65.65% below the 30-year average due to the Super El Niño and argued that Tamil Nadu already had substantial carryover storage from Karnataka's earlier releases.

The state's team also said Karnataka needed to conserve about 40 tmc ft of water to meet drinking water requirements until June 2027. It urged the Authority to keep the CWRC's directive in abeyance for a fortnight and review the hydrological situation thereafter.


Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, sought an increase in the daily release beyond 3,500 cusecs, contending that the prevailing hydrological conditions warranted a higher quantum of water.

The CWMA, however, endorsed the CWRC's July 28 decision directing Karnataka to ensure a daily flow of 3,500 cusecs at Biligundlu for 15 days.

Following the decision, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar convened an all-party meeting on Sunday, August 2, to discuss Karnataka's response. Former chief ministers, MPs and MLAs from the Cauvery basin region have been invited. CM is also scheduled to meet his Tamil Nadu counterpart, C Joseph Vijay, in Bengaluru on Monday.

Protests continued across the Cauvery basin districts, including Bengaluru, Mandya and Mysuru, against the CWRC's order. Kannada organisations are expected to meet on Friday to decide whether to call a statewide bandh.

The CM told reporters in Delhi that Union ministers Pralhad Joshi and V Somanna, along with former chief ministers Basavaraj Bommai and Jagadish Shettar, were pursuing Karnataka's case with the Centre. Joshi and Bommai also met Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil to press the state's case.

"We have discussed the issue with MPs and Union ministers. Everyone is making efforts in the interest of the state," the CM said.

On reports that the Tamil Nadu chief minister was under pressure to seek the Centre's intervention instead of negotiating with Karnataka, the CM said he was not interested in confrontation.

"There is a law of the land. We must respect one another," he said.

In Mandya, protesters forced a cinema hall to stop screening Vijay-starrer Jana Nayagan in support of the agitation.

The CM had earlier offered to arrange a helicopter for Vijay to undertake an aerial survey of Karnataka's Cauvery basin to witness the prevailing drought conditions firsthand. The Tamil Nadu chief minister is yet to respond to the offer.