Cauvery Water Dispute: Supreme Court Defers Hearing, Karnataka Faces Continued Pressure

The Cauvery water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu remains unresolved after the Supreme Court deferred its latest hearing to August 31. The court has asked both states to return with updated data on water availability, reservoir levels and releases.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta heard Tamil Nadu’s plea seeking implementation of directions issued by the Cauvery Water Management Authority. The court decided that the latest position should be examined after the upcoming authority meetings.

For Karnataka, the postponement means the earlier direction to release 12,000 cusecs of Cauvery water daily remains in force for now.

Tamil Nadu Seeks More Water

Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, appearing for Tamil Nadu, told the court that the state was not receiving the quantity of Cauvery water it was supposed to get.

He also urged the court to examine the role and powers of the Cauvery Water Management Authority in assessing inflows, water consumption, reservoir storage and releases between the two states.

Tamil Nadu also referred to Karnataka’s reservoir storage, stating that the state’s reservoirs were holding around 78 TMC of water. The counsel argued that any shortfall in the water supplied to Tamil Nadu should be addressed according to the authority’s directions.

Court Wants Fresh Figures

Karnataka’s senior advocate Shyam Divan said the Cauvery Water Management Authority meeting was scheduled for Tuesday. He told the court that Karnataka was examining the situation and, based on the state’s assessment, there was currently no major difficulty.

The hearing also took note of the upcoming meetings of the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee. These discussions are expected to provide updated information on reservoir storage, inflows and water releases.

The Supreme Court observed that the next hearing should be based on fresh figures rather than older data. Both states have therefore been asked to appear with updated information when the matter returns to court on August 31.

Until then, the water sharing issue remains a sensitive challenge for Karnataka, particularly as the state continues to balance its own water requirements with the existing directions on Cauvery releases.