506 TMC excess water released to TN in 10 years

The long-pending demand for a reservoir at Mekedatu, across River Cauvery, is being discussed of late with the State government forwarding a proposal to the Centre in this regard.

According to the statistics provided by the Water Resources department, at least 50 TMC feet of additional water has been released on an average annually to Tamil Nadu over the past 10 years. Officials said, an additional 505.99 TMC feet of water has been let from Karnataka from 2004-05 to 2013-14 against Tamil Nadu’s official share. At least 250 TMC feet of water has reached the Bay of Bengal as even TN does not have the infrastructure to store excess water.

TN is entitled for 192 TMC feet of Cauvery River water every year, according to the final verdict of the Cauvery River Water Disputes Redressal Tribunal, officials said. So, Karnataka should have released 1,920 TMC feet of water in a decade. However, 2,425.99 TMC feet of water has reached TN. Only during two years, over this period, Karnataka has failed to implement the order of the tribunal. In the year 2004-05, Karnataka managed to release 183.91 TMC feet of water, while it reduced to a meagre 100.44 TMC feet in 2012-13, due to failed monsoons, they said.

Officials said, the Mettur dam had a capacity to store 93.5 TMC feet water and excess water was released into the sea. “Even this year, we have already released a little more than 190 TMC feet of water. By the year end, we may exceed the stipulated limit,” they pointed out.

State Water Resources Minister M B Patil has already argued that the excess water can be used for meeting the domestic needs of the people of Bengaluru and other districts.

“Bengaluru is already getting a steady supply of 600 cusecs of Cauvery River water. The system has been upgraded to receive over 1,000 cusecs of water. If we construct a dam at Mekedatu, we can meet the needs of our own people and also release water to TN at times of crisis,” he has said.