Cauvery dispute: Supreme Court constitutes Bench to hear water-sharing dispute; experts call for “distress formula” for rain-deficit years

Tribune Web Desk

Vibha Sharma

Chandigarh, August 21

The Supreme Court today agreed to constitute a Bench to hear the Cauvery river water-sharing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The Tamil Nadu government had moved the apex court seeking fresh directions for the release of Cauvery water to Karnataka. The Karnataka government also filed an appeal in the top court following Tamil Nadu’s plea.

The issue

The long-pending dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on sharing Cauvery waters rears its head whenever there is a deficit SouthwestMonsoon in the region.

Strange as it may sound to people in the north reeling under the onslaught of rains, at the heart of the current Cauvery issue is prolonged monsoon deficiency in Karnataka. The cropping pattern in the two states and the “adhoc manner” in which the vexed problem has been dealt with all this while has only added to the problem.

Last week, Tamil Nadu petitioned the Supreme Court to instruct Karnataka to release 24,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) daily to support standing crops.

The court directed Karnataka to release 10,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.

However, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar appealed to the authority to reconsider the decision due to scarcity issues faced by the Cauvery basin area since the beginning of the monsoon this year.

The state has written to the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), asking it to review the order directing the state to release 10,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu.

The solution—‘distress formula’

According to Himanshu Thakkar from SANDRP (South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People) there needs to be a roadmap for all rivers in the country for all seasons, not only during drought or monsoon.

“So far as Cauvery is concerned, there should be a proper ‘distress formula’ for the times when there is a bad monsoon. The tribunal has laid down the principle for normal years but there is no guidance for years when monsoon is deficit,” explains Thakkar.

The environmentalist says that the definition of a ‘distress year’ should also be clearly specified.

“What is the definition of a 'distress year'? There are two issues, one when the monsoon is less and two when the inflow in the river is less. The duration of the ‘distress period’ should also be clearly specified,” he adds.

As per the CWDT or Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal’s final verdict, Karnataka is supposed to give 177.25 thousand million cubic feet to Tamil Nadu at Biligundlu in a ‘normal’ water year between June and May. Of this, 123.14 TMC is to be released between June and September—the period when the Southwest Monsoon is here in the country.

Cauvery/ Kaveri

Kaveri or Cauvery is one of the major rivers flowing through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri range in the Western Ghats in Karnataka and falls into the Bay of Bengal.The river is also called Ponni—the golden mother.

The perennial, monsoon rain-fed river enters Tamil Nadu through the Dharmapuri district, making its way to Bay of Bengal.Worshipped as the Goddess Kaveriamma, it is also known as Daksina Ganga—the Ganga of the South.

The Cauvery dispute is long pending and political in nature.

Basically, Cauvery is an interstate basin originating in Karnataka before passing through Tamil Nadu and draining into the Bay of Bengal. The other two riparian states are Kerala and Puducherry.

However, majority of the river’s total watershed falls is in Tamil Nadu.

There are other issues as well, mostly regarding the way its waters are used.

Thakkar says Karnataka and Tamil Nadu continue to be engaged in “unsustainable water intensive cropping pattern” which must change if the aim is to finalise some lasting solution to the problem,especiallyin mind the climate change.

When monsoon fails to deliver

A bad monsoon year means water shortage in Karnataka. According to reports, between June 1 and August 17, Karnataka recorded 499.4 mm of rainfall against the normal of 587.9 mm, a deficit of 15%. In August, the state again recorded massive deficiency. Though neighbouring Tamil Nadu received normal rainfall in this period, farmers there rely on Cauvery’s water for irrigation.

However, Karnataka farmers are protesting the release of water in mind a deficit Southwest Monsoon.

As on date, rainfall over the country as a whole during the second half (August to September period) of the Southwest Monsoon season is expected to be normal (94 to 106% of Long Period Average (LPA).

However, below normal rainfall is “very likely over most parts of Peninsular India and western parts of northwest and central India,” according to the IMD. Now all eyes are on the subsequentNortheast Monsoon.

The politics

Opposition BJP today organized ‘Mandya bandh’ in protest against the Congress government’s decision to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

The ruling Congress in Karnataka has called an all-party meeting on Wednesday.

The Karnataka government had “betrayed Karnataka’s farmers by releasing water to Tamil Nadu,”BJP leader Ashwanathnarayan Gowda was quoted as saying.

Many sugarcane farmers were arrested on Saturday when they blocked the national highway near T Narasipura in protest against the release of water from the Kabini reservoir to Tamil Nadu. Shouting slogans against the Karnataka government, they said farmers in the region will be worst affected, according to reports.

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