Defying Supreme Court, Karnataka Refuses To Release Cauvery Water To Tamil Nadu

Bengaluru: Heading for a showdown with the Supreme Court that wants the state to share Cauvery water with Tamil Nadu, the Karnataka government has declared there was no question of releasing water to its neighbour since the state did not have enough for its people.

This week, the Supreme Court fixed the final hearing of appeals by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala against the 2007 award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal and told Karnataka to release 2000 cusec of water every day.

Cusec, short for cubic feet per second, measures the flow of water. One TMC, or thousand million cubic water, comes to about 11,000 cusec a day.

Karnataka's Water Resources Minister MB Patil told NDTV that it wouldn't be able to comply with the court orders.

"Where do we release 2000 cusec water from? Let me make it very clear, we have 3-4 TMC shortage to cater to the drinking water needs of Bengaluru, Mysuru & other towns and villages," Mr Patil said.

Mr Patil said it would have been a different matter if the state had the water but did not release it. "But we do not have water and there is no question of release", the minister insisted.

Karnataka is running short of water. According to the Central Water Commission in Delhi, the water level in the state's major water reservoirs was 37 per cent less than the normal. But the crisis is much deeper in Tamil Nadu; its reservoirs are 80 per cent deficient.

This is the second time in a year that Karnataka is defying the top court. In October, the Karnataka government, backed by a state assembly resolution, refused to release water to Tamil Nadu in compliance with the Supreme Court directive to release 6000 cusec of water for 6 days. But the state government stepped back after the court rebuked the authorities and the state's legal team advised the executive not to push their luck.