SC refuses to interfere with order to release Cauvery water to TN, protests erupt in Karnataka

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to interfere with the order of Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and Regulatory Committee (CWRC) to release 5,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu, following which protests erupted in Karnataka. While Karnataka sought parley and Centre's intervention, Tamil Nadu ruled out scope for talks.

Ahead of the court ruling, citing drought-like situation, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Deputy D K Shivakumar conveyed to the Centre that it is not in a position to release water and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention. A bench of Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Prashant Kumar Mishra noted that bodies like CWMA and Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC), which have experts from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), and those on agriculture and water resource management, have considered all relevant aspects like drought, deficit rainfall, water level in the river and only then passed the order.

''We are therefore of the considered view that the factors which have been taken into consideration by both the authorities cannot be said to be irrelevant or extraneous. In that view, we are not inclined to interfere with the orders,'' the bench said. Karnataka approached the apex court seeking a direction to the CWMA to reconsider its order to release 5,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu. Before the top court pronounced its order, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar called on Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in Delhi and informed him of the state's inability to comply with the CWMA's order.

Shivakumar sought PM Modi's intervention to resolve the issue by convening a meeting of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, the riparian states. BJP MPs, including union ministers Shobha Karandlaje, Bhagawanth Khuba and A Narayanaswamy as well as Karnataka ministers, were present in the meeting.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, incensed farmers organisations and pro-Kannada outfits staged protests in various parts of the state and a Karnataka outfit demanded that the state government defy order on water release. Mysuru, Mandya, Bengaluru and Chamarajanagara witnessed protests. The protesting farmers tried to block the highway in Chamarajanagara. In the national capital, Shivakumar, who is the also the Karnataka Water Resources Minister, told reporters that despite challenges, the state is still releasing about 4,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu.

With the top court refusing to interfere, protests broke out in various parts of Cauvery river basin districts of Karnataka, as the state will now have to comply with the CWMA orders and release 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for another 15 days.

Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene (farmers organisation) staged a protest in Mysuru, and raised slogans: ''Where is water to release? We demand justice.'' A number of taluks have already been declared drought hit, a farmer leader underlined and alleged the CWMA order is in favour of Tamil Nadu as it is has not considered scenario in Karnataka, the water level in dams, standing crops and drinking water needs.

Karnataka Rakshana Vedike held a demonstration in Bengaluru against water release. As the top court refused to interfere, Vedike chief T A Narayana Gowda said it is a ''black day'' for Karnataka and demanded that the orders for water release be defied by state authorities.

Urging Siddaramaiah to take a strong decision in the interests of the state and not to release water, Narayana Gowda said, ''All the activists and people are ready to go with him to jail for defying orders. Siddaramaiah has to do what (S) Bangarappa (former CM) did in the past by bringing in an ordinance to defy the orders.'' Gowda and scores of Vedike activists were taken away by police.

Meanwhile, accusing the Siddaramaiah-led regime of ''failure'' on the Cauvery issue, senior BJP leaders B S Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai urged the Congress government to file a review petition before the apex court.

Yediyurappa said the state government has to speak to Tamil Nadu, where Congress's ally DMK is in power, instead of ''unnecessarily'' trying to drag the central government into the issue.

Bommai said the government should have been cautious as soon as the pre-monsoon failed, but instead they started acting only after the CWMA order came.

Following the SC decision, Tamil Nadu government ruled out any scope for parleys as sought by Karnataka, with state Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan indicating that TN will not compromise on its due share of Cauvery water.

''There's no scope for talks on the Cauvery issue, as parleys over the years did not yield any results,'' Duraimurugan told reporters. Now, the Apex Court's verdict on the subject is final and should hold good, he asserted.

BJP's Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai also spoke on similar lines, stating that Karnataka must release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

PMK founder leader S Ramadoss urged the Tamil Nadu government to exert pressure on Centre to obtain Cauvery water from Karnataka and save the paddy crop raised on about 2 lakh acres. If this was not possible then steps should be taken to provide a compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre to the affected farmers, he said.