The Supreme Court has decided to hear on August 25 the plea filed by Tamil Nadu demanding the release of the water of the Cauvery River from the Karnataka dams. A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Prashant Kumar Mishra will take up the matter for hearing on Friday. Earlier on Monday, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud had agreed to constitute a bench after senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Tamil Nadu, sought urgent listing of the application seeking release of water for the month of August in accordance with the directions passed by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).
The Tamil Nadu government had staged protests against Karnataka with CWMA for not releasing sufficient water to the state. In its application, Tamil Nadu has sought direction from the top court to Karnataka to ensure the stipulated releases for the months of August and September as per the award of the Cauvery Tribunal, as modified by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Ever since the Congress government assumed charge in Karnataka earlier this year, the state government has been aggressively mooting the construction of a dam at Mekedatu across the Cauvery river which has led to concerns in Tamil Nadu. Karnataka has announced that it has allocated an amount of Rs 8,000 crore for the construction of the Mekedatu dam, a bone of contention between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. However, the DMK government in Tamil Nadu has openly stated that it would not allow the Karnataka government to construct a dam across Mekedatu flouting the Cauvery water agreement.
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