Supreme Court Directs Tamil Nadu to Resolve Water Dispute via CWMA

The Supreme Court of India directed the Government of Tamil Nadu to resolve its grievances regarding Cauvery water releases through the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) rather than the judiciary. During a hearing on August 24, a bench consisting of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta noted that the Government of Karnataka had already released water in accordance with CWMA directions.

Counsel for Tamil Nadu disputed the court's observation, arguing that the quantity released did not constitute the proportionate share the state was entitled to receive. Tamil Nadu had petitioned the court to enforce a July 30 CWMA directive requiring Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water daily for 15 days from the Krishna Raja Sagara and Kabini reservoirs, totaling 4.536 TMC.

Parallel to the state government's petition, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam opposition party filed an application seeking the enforcement of a July 28 direction issued by the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee. The court scheduled the next hearing for August 31.