Cauvery row: Karnataka ordered to release 3,216 cusecs water per day to TN till the end of the year

In a blow to Karnataka, the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) on Thursday directed the state to release 3,216 cusecs of water from the Cauvery per day to Tamil Nadu for the rest of the year, as per the previous awards. While it is less than the 5,000 cusecs per day Tamil Nadu had demanded, with an ongoing water scarcity crisis, the order has put Karnataka in a fix.

The state had submitted to the 90th meeting of the committee that it was facing a shortfall of 52.24% in its four reservoirs, and that Tamil Nadu has had sufficient rainfall from October for its crops. Karnataka had said that it would not be able to release any water from its reservoirs so as to reach Biligundlu except that would be contributed from the uncontrolled catchment.

Last month, the CWRC had asked Karnataka to release 2,600 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from November 1-15, a climbdown from 3,000 cusecs the committee had ordered for the 15-day period from October 15 earlier.


Karnataka, which this year received its lowest rainfall since 1973, has declared 195 out of its 236 taluks as drought hit. The state has estimated the loss due to the drought at around Rs 33,770 crore, and has requested Rs 17,901 crore in relief from the union government.