Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu: Karnataka says low storage in dams

Karnataka on Friday informed the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) that it is not in a position to release the June quota of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, due to low storage in its reservoirs.

In the CWMA meeting held here, attended by its chairman Saumitra Kumar Haldar, Karnataka informed that it can consider the release of water only if the state gets monsoon rains. At present, storage in Cauvery basin reservoirs is low and also the inflow is very poor, Karnataka informed.

This year, the state has recorded more than 50% deficit in monsoon rain so far.

In the meeting, Tamil Nadu demanded that Karnataka should release the June quota of 9.19 TMC feet of water without any delay, sources in the Authority said.

Karnataka also said that at present, Tamil Nadu is in quite comfortable position with storage in its Mettur reservoir with 71 TMC feet of water as on June 1, 2023 mainly due to huge excess water released by Karnataka last year. This storage of water will be sufficient to Tamil Nadu up to the middle of August, Karnataka said in the meeting, sources said.

Though the Authority’s chairman asked Karnataka to release Tamil Nadu quota of water, he did not pass any order, sources said. The meeting also discussed framing a distress formula on release water from upper riparian state to lower riparian state during deficit rainfall year. However, the subject of the proposed Mekedatu reservoir did not figure in the meeting.