Chennai: The Cauvery supervisory committee meet held at New Delhi on Monday failed to end the standoff between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on the water sharing issue as the two states stuck to their guns. While Tamil Nadu contested its neighbour’s claim that it was facing a distress situation and demanded that it make good the 47tmcft shortfall due as on Sept. 24, the latter categorically refused to release water from its reservoirs.
TN is understood to have cited IMD (Indian meteorological department) data and argued before the supervisory committee that there was normal rainfall in the southern interiors of Karnataka during the southwest monsoon, which “hit Kerala coast on June 5 and intensified in Cauvery catchment from the fourth week of that month.”
Highly placed government sources quoted the three-member TN delegation as arguing; “If only Karnataka had not utilised 40tmcft water for its summer irrigation from February to May 2015 in violation of the final order of the Cauvery tribunal, Karnataka would not have had any difficulty to ensure water release during the current season.”
"Samba cultivation is in full swing in Cauvery fed TN districts and unless the deficit of 47.549tmcft is made good immediately, survival of the samba crop and food security of TN will be at stake," the TN delegation submitted before the committee, revealing to DC that Centre has proposed to set up a committee, hopefully in a week, to study distress and decide on the issue. The TN delegation has sought time to get back to the Centre on the proposed setting up of the committee to assess distress, after discussing with the government.
TN has also urged the supervisory committee to instruct Karnataka to ensure the delivery of 48tmcft due to TN at Billigundulu for October 2015- January 2016 period as prescribed in the final order. Taking a serious view of the supervisory committee's failure to monitor inflow and drawal of water by Karnataka, TN also insisted on the supervisory committee constituting a mechanism to monitor the said aspects besides extent of irrigation area in Karnataka. Karnataka has drawn 140tmcft from its four reservoirs, instead of 103tmcft stipulated in the final order.
