Chennai, Sept 23:
The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a fresh petition seeking the reallocation of 70 TMC of Cauvery water from Tamil Nadu’s share to Karnataka, observing that the issue is an inter-State dispute already being contested by the two States.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said that entertaining petitions filed by societies in a dispute between two States could lead to an endless stream of litigation. The Bench accordingly refused to entertain the petition.
The petition had, among other prayers, sought the reallocation of 70 TMC of Cauvery water from Tamil Nadu’s share to Karnataka.
The development comes against the backdrop of continuing differences between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the release and sharing of Cauvery water. Karnataka had told the Supreme Court that it had released excess water to Tamil Nadu as of August 31 and was complying with the direction of the Cauvery Water Management Authority to ensure a flow of 9,000 cusecs.
On August 25, the CWMA upheld the recommendation of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee directing Karnataka to ensure a flow of 9,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.
Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, informed the authority that there was a backlog in the release of water but said no direction had been issued to Karnataka in this regard.
The Supreme Court had earlier been hearing Tamil Nadu’s plea seeking directions to Karnataka for the immediate release of Cauvery water. On August 17, the apex court had directed Karnataka to comply with the CWMA order on the release of water.
The Tamil Nadu Government had earlier approached the Supreme Court on August 3, stating that the State was not receiving its due share of Cauvery water during a rain-deficient year. It had contended that both the quantum recommended by the CWRC and the quantity released by Karnataka were inadequate.
The latest Supreme Court order does not determine the underlying water-sharing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Instead, the court declined to entertain the fresh petition seeking redistribution of the allocated share, while the States continue to pursue their respective positions through the established Cauvery water management mechanism and ongoing proceedings.