Cauvery water dispute verdict LIVE Updates
The Supreme Court is all set to pronounce its verdict on the decades-old Cauvery water sharing dispute between the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and the Union territory of Puducherry, today. The verdict is likely to have political repercussions in all these states. In Karnataka, where elections are due in April, the river is a lifeline for farmers. An unfavourable judgment could be a setback for the ruling Congress in the state.
The dispute was adjudicated by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in 2007, after it determined the total availability of water in the Cauvery basin at 740 thousand million cubic (tmc) feet at the Lower Coleroon Anicut site, including 14 tmcft for environmental protection. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had challenged the tribunal’s order. But a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud had on September 20 last year reserved the verdict on the appeals filed by these states. Click here to read more
Follow Cauvery verdict LIVE UPDATES below:
11:20 am: Rakshana Vedike workers celebrate in Hosur after Supreme Court allotted Karnataka an additional 14.75 TMC ft share of Cauvery water.
11:15 am: We believe in a verdict of the court and respect it. Surely, this is not enough. We have raised the shortfall of water with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari who have two plans to address the issue, one of which is linking river Godavari with Kallanai: A Navaneethakrishnan
11:12 am: Originally awarded 192 TMC water to Tamil Nadu has been reduced with SC order. 14.75 TMC extra water has been given to Karnataka to provide drinking water to Bengaluru city. We hope that TN govt will take appropriate steps: A Navaneethakrishnan, lawyer for Tamil Nadu.
11:05 am: In 2007, the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) had ordered 419 TMC for Tamil Nadu, 270 TMC for Karnataka, 30 TMC for Kerala & seven TMC for Puducherry.
11:00 am: SC made it clear that increase in the share of Cauvery water for Karnataka by 14.75 TMC has been done keeping in view the fact that there is an increased demand of drinking water by Bengaluru and also for many industrial activities.
10:56 am:
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10:50 am: Supreme Court said that 20 TMC of groundwater in Tamil Nadu had not been accounted for and needed to be seen.
10:45 am: The Supreme court has pronounced the verdict. It said 177.25 TMC of Cauvery water to be released for Tamil Nadu. So the Tamil Nadu water share has been to 177 TMC from 192 TMC and Karnataka will get an additional 14.75 TMC.
10: 35 am: The verdict is going to be crucial for farmers, farmer coalitions and political parties in both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, a state going to polls soon.
10: 25 am: “The state intelligence is closely watching all Tamil nationalist groups. We are prepared to handle the law and order situation. All Karnataka-origin schools, mutts, banks and Udipi hotels in Chennai are given protection,” the officer said.
10: 20 am: A senior police officer said security has been tightened for all Karnataka establishments in Chennai, and Tamil nationalist groups and those who have resorted to violence in the past are being watched from last night.
10:10 am: Tamil Nadu has deployed hundreds of police personnel across Chennai city and towns bordering Karnataka. Top government sources said security has been tightened for all Karnataka establishments in the city.
10:00 am: Station in-charge at the Koyambedu bus terminus in Chennai said almost all buses plying to Karnataka have been halted or rerouted via Andhra. “Most of the services have been cancelled. All the interstate buses of the Karnataka Road Transport Corporation parked here are given police protection,” he said.
9:54 am: Police forces have been deployed in sensitive areas around Karnataka. A number of anti-social elements have been detained in a preventive measure to prevent violence as the verdict is deemed as unfavorable to the state- Johnson TA.
9:50 am: Security has been enhanced in Karnataka ahead of the Supreme Court verdict in the Cauvery water dispute. State bus services to Tamil Nadu has been curtailed. Bus services from Karnataka are plying only till the Tamil Nadu border. A number of schools have decided to close early in the wake of the verdict that is expected in the morning, Johnson TA reports from Bengaluru.
9:45 am: Tamil Nadu farmers association member R Pandian said, “Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi Palaniswami tried to speak to Karnataka CM on the issue but Siddaramaiah didn’t respond to it. No due water has been released to TN because of which crops in 5,000 acres of land are dying. We believe justice should be done.”
9:40 am: Bengaluru police commissioner T Suneel Kumar said 15,000 police personnel would be deployed for duty.
“Special attention will be given to the sensitive areas where riots had taken place in the past,” the commissioner said.
9:37 am: Anticipating violence in the wake of the verdict, almost all the government buses from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka have been halted. Security has been tightened in Bengaluru.
9:20 am: And in 1990-91, when the monsoon rainfall in southern Karnataka was 35% below normal, a violent demonstration rocked the state, killing 18 people, who were protesting against an interim order of the CWDT to release water to Tamil Nadu. However, incidents of such magnitude have not been witnessed since then.
9:15 am: In 1974, when the accord lapsed, Karnataka claimed that the agreement restricted its ability to develop farming activities along the Cauvery basin. To make up lost ground, it started building reservoirs. This led to a dispute between the two states.
9:12 am: In 1924, Tamil Nadu built the Mettur dam, and the two states signed an agreement effective for 50 years. The pact allowed Tamil Nadu to expand its agricultural area by 11 lakh acres from the existing 16 lakh acres. Karnataka was authorized to increase its irrigation area from 3 lakh acres to 10 lakh acres.
9:10 am: Do you know where it all started? We will tell you. So, historically, Tamil Nadu used about 602 TMC of the total yield of the river. As a result, only about 138 TMC was available for Karnataka until the turn of the 20th century.
9:07 am: Commuters in Hosur say that the number of buses plying to Karnataka has been reduced in the wake of verdict in Cauvery water sharing dispute case, today.
8:55 am: An order in Tamil Nadu’s favour will provide a boost to the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa, who was at the forefront of the Cauvery movement, often locked horns with Karnataka to protect the interest of her state.
8:50 am: The river provides drinking water to cities such as Bengaluru. The river is a symbol of pride for the people of southern Karnataka, where the dispute has often descended into violence.
8:48 am: Tamil Nadu had earlier also alleged that Kerala was drawing water in excess of what has been allocated to it by the tribunal. The apex court had on December 9, 2016, upheld the maintainability of appeals filed by the riparian states saying it has the “jurisdiction to decide the parameters, scope, authority, and jurisdiction of the tribunal”.
8:44 am: Later, Karnataka had moved a review petition in the apex court against its three orders on on the issue and direction to the Centre to create the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB), saying “grave miscarriage of justice” had been caused to it following the three apex court orders of September 20, 27 and 30, by which it was directed to release water.
8:42 am: On September 30, 2016, the Supreme Court had pulled up Karnataka for its repeated “defiance” in flouting its orders for releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu and said no one would know when the “wrath of the law” would fall on it.
8:41 am: The apex court had in January said the verdict would be pronounced within a month, adding that the matter has already created enough confusion for decades. The top court during the course of pendency of appeals of the neighbouring states against the arbitral award of 2007, had passed several orders directing Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
8:39 am: Karnataka opposed the verdict and filed a petition in the apex court claiming 312 TMC of water. Tamil Nadu followed suit. The court reserved its order in September 2017.
8:37 am: The order also stated that Karnataka must release 192 TMC of water in normal monsoon years (June to May) at the rate of 10 TMC in June, 34 TMC in July, 50 TMC in August, 40 TMC in September, 22 TMC in October, 15 TMC in November, 8 TMC in December, 3 TMC in January and 2.5 TMC each month from February to May to the Biligundlu water station in Tamil Nadu.
8:35 am: The dispute began following Karnataka’s attempts over the last century to expand farming activities in the Cauvery basin. In the past, the river primarily served the needs of farmers in Tamil Nadu. On the insistence of Tamil Nadu, the CWDT was formed in 1990 by the Union government. The Tribunal passed its order on February 5, 2007. Of the 740 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water available for utilization, 419 TMC was awarded to Tamil Nadu, 270 TMC to Karnataka, 30 TMC to Kerala and seven TMC to Puducherry. The remaining 14 TMC was reserved for environmental protection.
8:34 am: The Supreme Court will deliver its verdict on the Cauvery water sharing dispute today. Stay tuned to follow the latest updates.