New Delhi: The Supreme Court on February 6 summoned the chairman, and present and
past member secretary of the Cauvery Monitoring Committee to assist them in finding
what quantum of water should be released on a daily basis by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu
before the meeting of Cauvery River Authority (CRA) on February 10.
Saying that they will pass the order in the afternoon, the three-judge bench comprising
Justice R C Lahoti, Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice Arijit Pasayat said they needed to
consult these three experts to arrive at an opinion regarding the quantum of water
needed by Tamil Nadu to save its samba crop.
The Tamil Nadu government submitted that Karnataka had been violating the orders of
the Cauvery River Authority headed by the Prime Minister and those of the Supreme
Court for release of adequate quantity of water.
Senior advocate K K Venugopal stated that the total shortfall in release of water by
Karnataka amounted to nearly 60 TMC ft water.
However, Karnataka government stated that it has been releasing substantial quantity of
water to Tamil Nadu. This stand of Karnataka was supported by the Union Government
in its affidavit filed on February 5.
Karnataka government counsel senior advocate Fali Nariman submitted that the court should
appoint an expert body to determine the quantity of water stored in Karnataka as well as Tamil
Nadu and also to determine the quantity of water needed by Tamil Nadu on a daily basis.
PTI
