NEW DELHI: Upholding the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s order, Cauvery Water Management Authority on Thursday directed Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of Cauvery water daily to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days. As per the direction, Karnataka will have to release a total of 4 TMC (thousand million cubic) feet of river water to the neighbouring state.The decision came after an emergency meeting convened by the authority to consider Karnataka’s appeal against the committee’s Wednesday order. The meeting was called as Karnataka appealed to the authority against the order, taking the plea that ‘below normal’ monsoon rainfall had depleted reservoir levels and that drought conditions prevailed in the state.
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State officials are learnt to have told the authority that Cauvery basin reservoirs in Karnataka currently held around 36.7 TMC of water, which was substantially lower than the 99 TMC recorded during corresponding period last year. They pleaded that it would be difficult to even meet drinking water requirements and other essential needs in the present situation.Tamil Nadu’s representatives, however, opposed Karnataka’s plea, arguing that the committee’s recommendation dealt with only the minimum quantity that should be released. They pointed out that the reservoirs had enough flow and alleged that Karnataka had failed to properly implement the distress-sharing formula prescribed in the situation of deficient rainfall in a particular year.
