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Why is the Cauvery water sharing issue flaring up again?

Relevance

• GS Paper 1 Water Resources, Inter-State Relations, Dispute Redressal Mechanisms, Tribunals, Co-operative Federalism.

What’s in today’s article?

• Recent Developments
• Why dispute
• History of Cauvery River Water Dispute
• What is Mekedatu Resevoir Project
• Geography of Cauvery River Water Dispute
• How has the water being shared
• Why Tamil Nadu approached Supreme Court

Why in News:

Recently, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) directed Karnataka to immediately release the water of Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu.

However, CWMA dropped discussion on the Mekedatu reservoir project following “strong protest” from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

Reparian States: It involves 3 states and one Union Territory (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Puducherry).

What is this dispute over Cauvery water?

• The use and development of Cauvery waters were regulated by agreements of 1892 and 1924 between the erstwhile princely state of Mysore and the Madras presidency.
• The 1924 agreement had been necessary because Madras had objected to Mysore building the Krishnarajasagar dam across the Cauvery, and the agreement facilitated it by allowing Madras to build the Mettur dam.
• A significant feature of the agreement was that it put restrictions on the extent of area that could be safely irrigated by the two states by using the Cauvery waters.

Cauvery Water Dispute

History

•  The genesis of the dispute is 150 years old and dates back to the two agreements of arbitration in 1892 and 1924 between the then Madras presidency and Mysore.
• It entailed the principle that the upper riparian state must obtain consent of lower riparian state for any construction activity viz. reservoir on the river Cauvery.
• To resolve the matter, the CWDT (Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal) was established in 1990 which took 17 years to arrive at the final order (2007) on how Cauvery water should be shared between the 4 riparian states in normal rainfall conditions.
• CWDT was constituted by the Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 4 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
• The government again took 6 year and notified the order in 2013. This was challenged in SC (Supreme Court) which directed Karnataka to release 12000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu prompting protests in the State.
• The final verdict of the SC came in 2018 where it declared the Cauvery a national asset and largely upheld the water-sharing arrangements finalized by the CWDT and also reduced the allocation of water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu.
• As per the SC, Karnataka would get 284.75 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft), Tamil Nadu 404.25 tmcft, Kerala 30 tmcft and Puducherry 7 tmcft.
• It also directed the Centre to notify the Cauvery Management Scheme. The central government notified the ‘Cauvery Water Management Scheme’ in June 2018, constituting the ‘Cauvery Water Management Authority’ and the ‘Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’ to give effect to the decision.

what is Mekedatu Reservoir Project

• It aims to store and supply water for drinking purposes for the Bengaluru city. Around 400 megawatts (MW) of power is also proposed to be generated through the project.
• In 2018, Tamil Nadu approached the SC against the project even if Karnataka had held that it would not affect the flow of water to Tamil Nadu.
• TN is opposed to any project being proposed in the upper riparian unless it was approved by the SC.

Cauvery Water Dispute

History

• It involves 3 states and one Union Territory (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Puducherry).
• The genesis of the dispute is 150 years old and dates back to the two agreements of arbitration in 1892 and 1924 between the then Madras presidency and Mysore.
• It entailed the principle that the upper riparian state must obtain consent of lower riparian state for any construction activity viz. reservoir on the river Cauvery.
• CWDT was constituted by the Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 4 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
• In distress years, a pro-rata basis shall be used, it instructed. The government again took 6 year and notified the order in 2013.
• This was challenged in SC (Supreme Court) which directed Karnataka to release 12000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu prompting protests in the State.
• The final verdict of the SC came in 2018 where it declared the Cauvery a national asset and largely upheld the water-sharing arrangements finalised by the CWDT and also reduced the allocation of water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu.
• As per the SC, Karnataka would get 284.75 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft), Tamil Nadu 404.25 tmcft, Kerala 30 tmcft and Puducherry 7 tmcft. It also directed the Centre to notify the Cauvery Management Scheme.
• The central government notified the ‘Cauvery Water Management Scheme’ in June 2018, constituting the ‘Cauvery Water Management Authority’ and the ‘Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’ to give effect to the decision.

River Cauvery

Geography

• It is known as ‘Ponni’ in Tamil, also known as Ganga of the south, and it is the fourth largest river of southern India.
• It is a sacred river of southern India. It rises on Brahmagiri Hill of the Western Ghats in southwestern Karnataka state, flows in a southeasterly direction through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and descends the Eastern Ghats in a series of great falls and drains into Bay of Bengal through Pondicherry.
• Some of its tributaries are Arkavathi, Hemavathi, Lakshmana Theertha, Shimsa, Kabini and Harangi.

How is the water being shared?

• A monthly schedule is in place for Karnataka, the upper riparian State of the Cauvery basin, to release water to Tamil Nadu.
• As per the schedule, Karnataka is to make available to Tamil Nadu at Biligundlu a total quantity of 177.25 TMC in a “normal” water year (June to May).
• Of this quantity, 123.14 TMC is to be given during the period from June to September, also marking the season of the southwest monsoon.
• Invariably, it is during this period that the Cauvery issue gets flared up, when the monsoon yields lower rainfall than anticipated.
• After the SC gave its judgment in February 2018 on the CWDT’s 2007 award, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) were established four months later to ensure the implementation of the judgment.
• Since then, the two bodies have been holding meetings to take stock of the situation.

Why has Tamil Nadu approached the SC?

• The CWMA, at its meeting on August 11, wanted Karnataka to manage its releases in such a way that 10,000 cusecs of water was realised at Biligundlu for the next 15 days, starting from August 12.
• In other words, Karnataka would have to provide 0.86 TMC a day or 12.9 TMC totally in the 15 days.
• The Authority also decided that based on future rainfall, there would be a re-evaluation of the quantity to be released. But, what apparently irked Tamil Nadu was the refusal of Karnataka during the meeting to abide by the quantity that was agreed upon at the meeting of the CWRC the previous day— which was a figure of 15,000 cusecs for 15 days.
• However, Karnataka, during the authority’s meeting, said it would release only 8,000 cusecs, and that too up to August 22.

How has Karnataka responded?

• Karnataka has contended that lower rainfall in the Cauvery catchment including in Kerala has led to the poor inflow to its own reservoirs.
• On Saturday, in Mysuru, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told journalists that whenever additional water flowed into the reservoirs, Karnataka was releasing it to Tamil Nadu.
• But, this year, Karnataka was not in such a position, he conceded. According to data of the Meteorological Department, Kodagu, the district cited by Mr. Siddaramaiah for the deficit rainfall (the Cauvery originates from there), received 44% less rainfall during June 1-August 15 than what it was expected to experience.
• Also, Karnataka, at the Authority’s meeting, had refused to accept the demand of Tamil Nadu for following a distress-sharing formula, even though its Chief Minister, in Mysuru, favored the idea of sharing distress.

Way Forward?

• Tamil Nadu, especially its farmers in the Cauvery delta, is eagerly awaiting to see whether Karnataka will go at least by the decision of the Authority.
• The present storage of the Mettur reservoir in Tamil Nadu is precariously low with about 20 TMC, which will last only 10 days after giving allowance for dead storage and drinking water requirements, even though water will be required at least for one more month for the standing short-term crop, kuruvai.
• It remains to be seen how the Supreme Court is going to view the matter. A distress-sharing formula, acceptable to all, seems to be the need of the hour.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question

Discuss the challenges associated with Cauvery River Water Disputes. Throw some light on the Supreme Court’s judgement in addressing Cauvery river water dispute. Also suggest constitutional measures related to it.