The newly-formed Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) has ordered Karnataka to release 31.24 tmcft Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu in July.
The first meeting of the CWMA was held in New Delhi on Monday, with representatives from Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The meeting was held even as Karnataka decided to appeal in the Supreme Court against the formation of Cauvery Water Management Authority.
Speaking to reporters after the four-hour long meeting, the interim chairman of the CWMA, S Masood Hussain said the meeting discussed various factors involved in the release of Cauvery water being discussed.
“We discussed about the CWMA’s structure and office, factors related to the water inflow and outflow and we decided to preserve all the details required to release water from Cauvery,” he said.
Hussain also said that the water to be released for July would be over and above the extra water released in June. Karnataka had released an extra of 3 tmcft of water from Cauvery in June owing to the heavy rainfall in the river’s catchment areas. The water will be released by Karnataka based on the water level at Biligundlu dam.
The next meeting of the CWMA would be held in July to review the implementation of the orders passed by the authority in the first meeting. The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee will meet in New Delhi on July 5.
Speaking in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami said, “The meeting was a historical one as far as Tamil Nadu is concerned. The authority has ordered Karnataka to release 31.24 tmcft water in July. We will definitely get the 177.25 tmcft water from Cauvery as ordered by the Supreme Court.”