Cauvery statistics come in handy for government

The State’s argument may well be strengthened in the Cauvery river dispute case, if one goes by the amount of water released, as calibrated at the Biligundlu measuring station.

With the case coming up for hearing in the Supreme Court on Friday, the district farmers are pinning their hopes on the water release statistics.

Though the release of water to Tamil Nadu from the State’s dams was stopped on October 8, a total of 1,05,917 cusecs of water was released to the neighbouring state between October 8 and October 17, thanks to the rains. Areas in and around the KRS reservoir received a record 16 cm of rain during the period.

Copious rains were received in Pandavapura, Mandya and other places too. As a result, the Biligundlu station recorded a flow of 19,995 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu October 10.

The Cauvery Monitoring Committee had, on October 11, directed Karnataka to release 8.85 tmc ft of water to Tamil Nadu. It had said that the water need not be released from the reservoirs alone.

There were good rains, between six cm and 10 cm in some places, in Mandya district again between October 12 and 14. So, a total of 6,569 of water was released on October 15; 16,757 cusecs on October 16 and 12,530 cusecs on October 17, as measured at the Biligundlu station.

A total of 35,856 cusecs of water (more than three tmc ft) was released in the first three days alone, since the time water flow was stopped from the dams. This means the State has to release five tmc ft of water during the remaining period till October 30.

Also, 3,500 tmc ft of water is flowing to the neighbouring state every day due to seepage from the reservoirs and from the drinking water network.

All this information can buttress the State’s case, provided its counsels present it effectively. They should also appraise the court of the water scarcity in the State’s Cauvery valley, says the district Raitha Hitharakshana Samithi.