Enough confusion for decades, Cauvery verdict in 4 weeks: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said its judgement pertaining to Cauvery water dispute among Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and others would be delivered within four weeks.

A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice Dipak Misra indicated the time limit for passing the much-awaited verdict for the people in the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, while declining to entertain a plea by NGO 'Bangalore Political Action Committee' to ensure drinking water needs of Bengaluru and other Cauvery basin districts.

"There is enough of confusion in over two decades. We are not inclined to entertain this petition. We would deliver the judgement (Cauvery case) within four weeks. If there is some grouse with regard to drinking water, any forum can be approached after delivery of the judgement," the bench told advocate Aparna Bhatt, representing the NGO.

In its plea filed in the apex court in September, 2016, the NGO with Kiran Mazumdar Shaw as its president and Mohandas Pai as its vice-president contended that there was indeed an alarming situation in Bengaluru with over one crore population, which required urgent attention of the relevant authorities.

It wanted the direction to ensure that the water requirements of the city of Bengaluru and the Cauvery basin districts were fully met to the extent of 26 TMC from the reservoirs of Karnataka.

Maintaining that it's aim was only to highlight the ground realities and to present the correct perspective of the hardship and agony of the people, the NGO has contended that the citizens' right to drinking water as protected under Article 21 of the Constitution must be given due attention. "It is the basic human and natural right that needs to be protected and ensured at every level by the state," it said.

The apex court had on Septembre 20 last reserved its judgement on civil appeals filed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala against the final decision of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal award of 2007 on allocation and sharing of the river water. As many as 28 days of marathon hearing took place in the matter pertaining to the dispute, dating back to year 1802.