The Cauvery Regulatory Committee has recommended that Karnataka release 4,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days, lowering the quantity from an earlier direction of 6,000 cusecs a day issued by the Cauvery Water Management Authority.
The recommendation was made at the committee’s meeting on Thursday. It sets out a daily release schedule for the next fortnight, although the report does not state when the revised release is expected to begin.
The earlier direction was issued by the Cauvery Water Management Authority on September 8. The authority had directed that Karnataka release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu every day. Karnataka’s state government objected to that direction, saying that its drought situation had not been taken into account.
The dispute was subsequently taken up with the authority by Karnataka’s Water Resources Department. Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta submitted an appeal on September 15, citing the water position in four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin.
According to the figures presented in the appeal, the four reservoirs together had 55 TMC feet of water at the time. The appeal also said that inflows into the reservoirs had fallen by 87 per cent over the previous month and that the current inflow was only about 3,000 cusecs.
The committee’s recommendation therefore comes against a backdrop of a sharp decline in inflows and Karnataka’s objection to the earlier release direction. The figures cited by the state department describe the immediate reservoir position placed before the authority, while the committee’s decision establishes the recommended daily release for the next 15 days.
The development adds a new step to the continuing Cauvery water-management process between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The latest recommendation changes the quantity under consideration from 6,000 cusecs to 4,000 cusecs a day, but the report does not provide details of any further decision by the Cauvery Water Management Authority or the operational instructions to be issued to Karnataka.
The next stage will depend on the implementation of the committee’s recommendation and any subsequent direction from the Cauvery Water Management Authority. The report does not specify whether the authority has formally accepted the revised quantity.
