Environment
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Karnataka cites rain for Cauvery flows to Tamil Nadu
The Hindu··13 Aug
Karnataka told the Supreme Court on August 13 that good rain, not a voluntary surplus, let it meet Cauvery flows to Tamil Nadu in a distress year. Counsel said Kabini inflows from Wayanad rainfall overcame El Nino stress. Tamil Nadu said the release was not voluntary, that only 19.49 percent of its allocation had arrived, and it needed more.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Farmers in the Cauvery delta can note Tamil Nadu's court figure: 19.49 percent of its allocated water realised so far, which is why it is asking for more.
- Users of Kabini and KRS water in Karnataka can see the state attributing extra border flows to Wayanad rain, not to a spare surplus.
- Anyone reading daily cusec headlines can mark Biligundlu, the Central Water Commission gauge both sides used for July 29 to August 10.
What's Happening
- Karnataka told the Supreme Court that rainfall in a distress year allowed it to meet flows that a CWMA-backed daily 3500 cusec direction had required till August 12.
- It said 86797 cusecs reached Biligundlu from July 29 to August 10, above the 45500 cusecs it cited from the CWRC's ninth recommendation.
- Tamil Nadu said the release was not voluntary and that only 19.49 percent of allocated Cauvery water had been realised, and it sought more.
Why Distress Years Turn on the Biligundlu Gauge
- The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee and the Cauvery Water Management Authority set short-term release orders when the year is classified as a distress year.
- Karnataka said a two-day lag separates reservoir releases from KRS and Kabini and the reading at the Central Water Commission station on the inter-state border.
- Wayanad, which sits above the Kabini catchment in Kerala, is the rainfall zone Karnataka credited for the extra inflows it then sent downstream.
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