Supreme Court asks Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu from Oct 7 to 18

Taking a strong stance against Karnataka's defiance on its previous rulings, the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday set a deadline for the state government to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The Apex court has warned the government to adhere to its order or face consequences.

The Karnataka government has twice defied the SC order regarding releasing water to Tamil Nadu, arguing that the state wasn't in a position to release water until December, as it didn't have enough drinking water for its cities.

Meanwhile, the court also put on hold the constitution of Cauvery Management Board. 

The apex court on Tuesday ordered Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from October 7 to 18. The court asked Karnataka earlier in the day to let it know by 3.15 pm regarding the quantity of water it could share with its neighbouring state.

The Karnataka government on Monday decided to comply with the order of the SC. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told the legislative assembly that it had become inevitable for the state to release Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu as per the order of the apex court. He said that the state is now in the position to share water with its neighbouring state as the inflow of water into the reservoirs had increased over the last 10 days due to rain in the catchment area.

Earlier, the court slammed Karnataka for defying its order to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for a period of six days. It repeatedly turned down the state's plea to halt the release of Cauvery water until December.

The dispute over Cauvery water sharing triggered violence in Karnataka, particularly Bangalore city last month, disturbing normal life. Police clamped section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) prohibiting assembly of more than four people in any area and curfew in 16 police stations in Bangalore after riots broke out.