The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) has endorsed an order of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) directing Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs, around 4.5 tmc ft, of water to Tamil Nadu. The order stands despite a 60% shortfall in reservoir inflows.
Neither state accepts it. Karnataka opposed the order, arguing that irrigation has not yet begun because of inadequate rainfall. Tamil Nadu called the quantity insufficient and demanded the release of 9.8 tmc ft. The disagreement has reopened the long-running inter-state dispute in a deficient monsoon.
In years of scarcity, Karnataka, the upper riparian state, seeks a larger share to meet Bengaluru's drinking water and irrigation needs. Tamil Nadu, the lower riparian state, wants assured releases to sustain agriculture in the Cauvery delta, particularly the Kuruvai crop.
The roots of the dispute lie in the 1892 and 1924 agreements between the Princely State of Mysore and the Madras Presidency. After Independence, the conflict was brought under Article 262 and the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted under that framework in 1990.
The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award (2007) allocated 740 TMC of Cauvery water: Tamil Nadu 419 TMC, Karnataka 270 TMC, Kerala 30 TMC, Puducherry 7 TMC, and 14 TMC for environmental purposes.
The Supreme Court judgment (2018) modified the award. It gave Karnataka an additional 14.75 TMC, taking its share to 284.75 TMC and reducing Tamil Nadu's to 404.25 TMC, after considering Tamil Nadu's groundwater availability and Bengaluru's drinking water needs. The Court also held that inter-state rivers are national assets and that no state has exclusive ownership of them. It directed the setting up of the CWMA and the CWRC to implement the sharing arrangement and manage distress years.
The Centre constituted the CWMA in 2018 under the Cauvery Water Management Scheme, 2018, along with the CWRC. It is a statutory, quasi-judicial body notified under the 1956 Act to implement the modified tribunal award as upheld by the Supreme Court.
The Authority is headquartered in New Delhi under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. Its chair is a Secretary or Additional Secretary-rank IAS officer or a senior engineer, appointed by the Centre for five years. It has two full-time members (Water Resources and Agriculture), two part-time members from the Centre, four part-time members representing Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, and a Secretary from the Central Water Engineering Services.
It regulates inter-state releases from Cauvery reservoirs and determines distress-sharing in deficient rainfall years. Through the CWRC it monitors reservoir storage, inflows and outflows, and it promotes efficient water use through better irrigation practices.
Tamil Nadu has also opposed Karnataka's proposed Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir Project and urged the Prime Minister to withhold statutory and administrative approvals.
The project is a proposed 48 TMC balancing reservoir on the Cauvery at Mekedatu in Ramanagara district, about 100 km south of Bengaluru. Karnataka says it is meant to provide drinking water to Bengaluru, recharge groundwater and generate hydropower. It maintains that the project does not seek additional irrigation and will not alter the allocations fixed by the 2007 award and the 2018 judgment.
Tamil Nadu argues that greater upstream storage could let Karnataka regulate river flows in distress years, affecting downstream releases and delta agriculture. It cites the tribunal award, which prohibits upstream projects that adversely affect scheduled water deliveries without mutual agreement and consultation with the regulatory authority.
With reference to the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), consider the following statements:
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Consider the following information:
| Body / Document | Allocation or role | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Tribunal award (2007) | Tamil Nadu 419 TMC and Karnataka 270 TMC |
| 2. | Supreme Court judgment (2018) | Karnataka's share raised to 284.75 TMC |
| 3. | Supreme Court judgment (2018) | Tamil Nadu's share reduced to 419 TMC |
| 4. | Cauvery Water Regulation Committee | Monitors reservoir storage, inflows and outflows |
In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched?
Consider the following statements about the Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir Project:
Which one of the following conclusions based on the above statements is correct?
