The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee has recommended that Karnataka be directed to release 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days, placing the inter-state water dispute before the Cauvery Water Management Authority for a decision.
The recommendation followed a meeting of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee in Delhi on October 23. The committee recommended that the Cauvery Water Management Authority issue directions to Karnataka to release water at the rate of 3,000 cubic feet per second to Tamil Nadu during the 15-day period.
The recommendation comes after Tamil Nadu alleged that Karnataka had not released the water share due to the state from the Cauvery. The Tamil Nadu government has challenged the situation before the Supreme Court and has also approached the Cauvery Water Management Authority.
The dispute has moved through multiple institutional channels, with Tamil Nadu seeking action through both the Supreme Court and the river-management mechanism established to address Cauvery water-sharing issues. The latest recommendation is therefore an administrative step within an ongoing inter-state water allocation dispute, rather than a final resolution of the disagreement between the two states.
The immediate question is whether the authority will convert the committee’s recommendation into a binding direction. The source report said the 60th meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority was scheduled for 3 pm on October 23, where an order was expected to be issued.
If the authority accepts the recommendation, Karnataka would be required to release water to Tamil Nadu at the specified rate for the next 15 days. The source report did not provide details of the authority’s final decision, the volume already released by Karnataka, or the response from the Karnataka government.
The committee’s recommendation places the implementation of the Cauvery sharing arrangement back at the centre of the dispute. Until the authority issues its decision, the 3,000-cusecs release remains a recommendation rather than a confirmed operational order. The outcome of the authority’s 60th meeting will determine the immediate next step in the matter.
