Karnataka must give 3,128 cusecs per day to Tamil Nadu till December-end, says CWRC

The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) on Tuesday recommended that Karnataka must ensure 3,128 cusecs per day flow at Biligundlu inter-state water gauge till December 31 and 1,030 cusecs per day in the entire month of January, 2024.

The CWRC, under its chairman Vineet Gupta, held a meeting to review the water and crop situation in the Cauvery basin area.

“Karnataka needs to ensure stipulated quantities of flows at the inter-state contact point Biligundlu as per the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal final award as modified by the Supreme Court for the remaining period of December 2023 & January 2024, implying 3,128 cusecs per day for the remaining period of December 2023 and 1,030 cusecs per day for the entire month of January 2024,” the CWRC said after the meeting. 

Based on the CWRC recommendation, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) will take a decision on release of water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu. The CWMA is likely to hold a meeting any day.  

Insisting that it was not in a position to release water to Tamil Nadu in the meeting, Karnataka said that the four Cauvery basin reservoirs in the state were facing 52.82% shortfall in cumulative inflows. 

In the meeting, Karnataka said, “The rainfall in Cauvery delta of Tamil Nadu could be expected in the remaining period of North-East monsoon. So, Tamil Nadu will have sufficient soil moisture to sustain the standing crops if any.”

“The Kuruvai crop in Tamil Nadu has been harvested by the end of September and Samba crop has harvested by the end of first week of December. Therefore, there is no need for water for these crops,” Karnataka argued.

“Mettur dam and Bhavani Sagar reservoir have significant storage of 50.367 tmc feet of water, which would be more than sufficient for Tamil Nadu. The inflows into 4 reservoirs of Karnataka have materially ceased and there is no expectation of any flow. Karnataka is bound to manage the requirement of existing crops, the drinking water needs and industrial needs with the existing storage,” Karnataka said.

Tamil Nadu demanded that Karnataka has to release 14 tmc feet of water, including a backlog of 7.6 tmc feet.