NEW DELHI — Amid an escalating inter-state resource dispute, the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) on Wednesday instructed the Karnataka administration to ensure a continuous daily water release of 3,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu for the upcoming fifteen-day period.
The latest mandate stems from a protracted legal and political battle between the two southern riparian states over the equitable sharing of the Cauvery River basin's scarce resources. Tamil Nadu had formally petitioned regulatory authorities for an augmented daily flow of 14,236 cusecs, which factored in a claimed accumulated deficit amounting to 13.829 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) from previous cycles.
According to reports by The Hindu, Karnataka fiercely contested Tamil Nadu's demands during the deliberations, presenting data that underscored severe drought plaguing its agricultural heartlands and drastically low storage capacities in its major reservoirs. State representatives argued that meeting even a fraction of the requested quantum would severely jeopardize local drinking water security and standing crops.
As the fifteen-day implementation window commences, supervisory authorities will closely monitor discharge volumes at key gauging stations. The ongoing friction highlights the urgent need for long-term infrastructural and policy interventions to address escalating water scarcity and climate-induced droughts across southern India's critical river basins.