SC Refuses Fresh Plea Seeking Reallocation of Cauvery Water

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a fresh petition seeking changes in the allocation of Cauvery river water, observing that the long-running dispute is already being contested by the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta declined to entertain the plea, which sought, among other reliefs, the reallocation of 70 TMC of Cauvery water from Tamil Nadu’s share to Karnataka.

“If we start entertaining petitions of societies in a dispute between two states, which are already contesting the matter, then there will be no end to it,” the bench observed.

The development comes amid renewed legal and administrative disputes over Karnataka's compliance with water-release directions issued by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).

While the PTI report referred to the CWMA's August 25 direction for Karnataka to ensure a flow of 9,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, the authority subsequently issued a fresh direction on September 8, reducing the required flow to 6,000 cusecs a day from September 9 to 23.

Tamil Nadu has since moved the Supreme Court alleging that Karnataka was not complying with the latest direction. The state has sought enforcement of the 6,000-cusec release and asked Karnataka to make good a 16.01 TMC shortfall accumulated between June 1 and September 9.

Tamil Nadu has also highlighted the impact on agriculture, saying the Kuruvai crop was badly affected as the Mettur reservoir could not be opened in June. The reservoir was opened only on September 1, and the state said its available reserves could support irrigation for only around 25 to 30 days.

Karnataka, meanwhile, has maintained that it had released water in excess of the mandated quantity as of August 31 and was complying with the CWMA's directions. The state has also raised concerns over reduced inflows and its own water-storage requirements.

The Supreme Court had on August 17 directed Karnataka to comply with the CWMA's water-release order. Tamil Nadu had originally approached the court on August 3, contending that both the quantum recommended by the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee and the water actually released by Karnataka were inadequate.

The latest refusal by the Supreme Court concerns the separate third-party plea seeking alteration of the broader allocation and does not resolve the ongoing Tamil Nadu-Karnataka dispute over water releases and the alleged backlog.