TN moves apex court, says K'taka releasing sewage into Cauvery

Tamil Nadu on Friday approached the Supreme Court accusing Karnataka of causing serious environmental damage by letting untreated sewage and industrial effluents into the Cauvery and Pennaiyar rivers.

In a complaint, the state sought permanent and mandatory injunction against Karnataka for denying the people of Tamil Nadu access to clean water.

The pollution, it contended, begins from Tala Cauvery in the Kodagu district of Karnataka, and worsens as it reaches the border between states due to unabated release of raw sewage and effluents.

“As part of development, a large number of industries have come into existence in and around the Bengaluru City area. The defendant state has totally abdicated its responsibilities and duties as a responsible state, and is irresponsibly discharging sewage and drainage water into the Cauvery river and Pennaiyar. This amounts to gross dereliction of duty. Presently, a large quantum of the river water received by the plaintiff state contains large quantities of sewage water discharged into the rivers,” claimed the petition.

The state, seeking the right to claim damages from Karnataka, has also made the Centre a party in the suit, contending that it failed in its legal and constitutional duty to ensure that Karnataka complied with its social obligation and responsibility to comply with the prescribed standards before releasing effluents into rivers.

No attempt was made by Karnataka to set up effluent treatment plants, reverse osmosis systems or drainage facilities to purify the polluted water discharged into the rivers, it claimed.

The petition referred to the Karnataka minor irrigation minister's statement, that around 889 million litres of sewage water entered Tamil Nadu through the Pinakini and South Pennar rivers, and the remaining sewage water flowed through the Cauvery from the Arkavathi river on a daily basis into Tamil Nadu.