DMK moves SC, seeks immediate Cauvery water release by Karnataka

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party has approached the Supreme Court, urging it to direct Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu without delay. This legal action comes as the Tamil Nadu government is also preparing its own appeal.

The DMK's petition, filed by its Farmers Wing secretary, emphasizes the dire water crisis facing Tamil Nadu's Cauvery Delta region. The party argues that the current period is crucial for cultivating the Kuruvai paddy crop and preparing for the Samba crop, which are vital for the region's agriculture. Failure to release water now, the DMK warns, could lead to the standing Kuruvai crop withering and imperil the Samba cultivation, potentially turning the fertile delta into a desert.

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The present period is the most crucial period of the entire water year for the Cauvery Delta, and it is precisely now that the water is required to flow.

The plea seeks enforcement of a July 28 directive from the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) for Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water daily for 15 days. Karnataka had challenged this order before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), but its appeal was dismissed on July 30. Karnataka has cited acute distress, insufficient inflows, low reservoir storage, and drinking water requirements as reasons for opposing the release, requesting the matter be kept in abeyance. The DMK contends that Karnataka must first release a backlog of approximately 9.46 TMC of water.

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If water is not realised at Biligundlu now, the standing Kuruvai crop will wither before harvest, the ensuing Samba cultivation, the mainstay of the Delta, will equally be imperilled for want of both river flows and groundwater, and the fertile Cauvery Delta, the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu, faces the real and imminent danger of being reduced to a desert.