The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Karnataka government to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu for six days, starting Monday.
The apex court slammed Karnataka for not complying with its earlier order to release water to its neighbouring state, saying that it (Karnataka) has dented majesty of law. It also issued a directive to form a Cauvery management board to resolve the decades old issue.
Karnataka on Wednesday defied SC order to release water to Tamil Nadu for the second time. An all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah decided to go by its last week's resolution not to release more water, citing that the state is running out of drinking water.
Karnataka on Wednesday declared 68 taluks in the state as drought-hit.
The SC has repeatedly turned down Karnataka's plea to halt the release of Cauvery water until December, and the latter has refused to comply with the court order.
The last instance being Karnataka moving the court earlier this week seeking modification of the September 20 order to release 6000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for a week on the grounds that it didn't have enough drinking water, and that it's not in the position to release water until December. However, the SC asked the state to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water for three days starting Wednesday, however, the Karnataka government acted in defiance of the order.
The Karnataka legislature took a unanimous resolution last week to defer the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu as its reservoirs were running dry, and it needs to supply drinking water to its cities.
The dispute over Cauvery water led to violence in Karnataka, particularly in Bengaluru earlier this month. Police clamped section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) prohibiting assembly of more than four people in an area and curfew in 16 police stations in in the city after riots broke out.
