Release 2,000 cusecs daily to TN Oct 7-18, SC tells Karnataka

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu daily from October 7 to 18 as it asked the Cauvery Supervisory Committee to visit the Cauvery basin area of two states for an assessment of the ground situation and report back to it by October 17.

The bench of Justice Dipak Misra sand Justice Uday Umesh lalit directed the release of 2,000 cusecs of water every day for 12 days, after Karnataka told the court that in compliance with the court's September 30 order, it has started releasing water to Tamil Nadu and by October 6 it would release 3.1 TMC of water.

The court had by its September 30 order had asked Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water every day from October 1 to 6.

The court said that the Supervisory Committee would comprise the Central Water Commission's Chairman, member, and Chief Engineer, the Chief Secretaries of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu or their nominees, the states' Chief Engineers or their nominees and a representative each from Kerala and Puducherry.

Noting that Karnataka has already made a statement that it has started to release water in pursuance to the September 30 order, the court earlier on Tuesday asked it to indicate the quantity of water it could release daily basis from October 7 to 18 - the date when the court) would be hearing various applications and appeals by both states.

Giving half an hour time to Karnataka's counsel V.N. Raghupathy, the court adjourned the hearing for this period. On the resumption, state's Advocate General M.R. Naik told the court that they can release 1,500 cusecs every day. He said that it was on the basis of instructions he has received from the highest level in the government.