No state has exclusive river rights: Court

In a major takeaway for Karnataka, the Supreme Court on Friday allocated it an additional 14.75 TMC (thousand million cubic) feet of Cauvery river water from Tamil Nadu's annual quota and asked it to release only 177.25 TMC feet to Tamil Nadu in a year.

Karnataka's increased share takes care of the drinking water problems of its Capital Bengaluru, a ‘global city. The verdict also comes just months before the Karnataka elections and has been claimed by the ruling Congress as a big win. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was congratulated in the assembly by party men.

But while Karnataka was elated after the verdict, Tamil Nadu's opposition parties were gunning for the AIADMK government and CM E Palaniswami. They pointed out that Tamil Nadu farmers and the citizens of the state had been cheated by the government as it has not fought the case properly. Reducing Tamil Nadu's share, the Supreme Court has said the state's irrigation area had not been assessed correctly and its government had not considered the availability of ground water.

Giving the judgement, the three judges of the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice Dipak Misra, said no state can claim exclusive right to a river passing through different states.

The judgment will remain valid for 15 years in terms of the monthly releases fixed in the 2007 award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal, except for the modifications the court has inserted.

The most awaited judgment has not altered the 2007 award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal in the case of the quota of Kerala and Puducherry. The 765-km long Cauvery river, also called the Ganga of the south, is the lifeline for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The river originates in Kodagu district in southern Karnataka and flows into Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

Karnataka gets 14.75 TMC feet in addition to the 270 TMC in the Tribunal award while Tamil Nadu gets that much less – its entitlement being 404.25 TMC per year.

The court faulted the Tribunal for drastically reducing Karnataka's share towards domestic and industrial use on the ground that only 1/3rd of the capital city of Bengaluru falls within the river basin and also on the presumption that 50% of drinking water needs would be met from the groundwater supply.