Karnataka told to release 2,000 cusecs daily by Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Karnataka to release 2000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu daily from October 7 to 17 as an interim measure. It also deputed a high-powered team comprising the chairman and member secretary of the Central Water Commission and engineers and representatives from all four riparian states to assess the ground reality in the Cauvery basin.

The order came after a tensionfilled court hearing in which Karnataka Advocate General Madhusudan R Naik said the state government was not in a position to release more than 1,500 cusecs daily without eating into its drinking water needs.

Naik made the submission after Nariman dramatically urged the court not to pass any more such orders, saying he had received much flak for it the last time.

TN counsel Shekhar Naphade protested against this line of argument, and at one point accused the court of going soft on defiant politicians.

He cited an earlier instance in which the court had accepted an apology from former Chief Minister SM Krishna after four years even though the charges of contempt were proved against him. “Why is the court soft on politicians?” he demanded to know.

The bench, led by Justice Dipak Misra, was quick to dispute this.