A good beginning

A good beginning

News:

1. Recently, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) directed Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu and other states.

Important facts:

2. The decision was taken during first meeting of the CWMA held in New Delhi, with representatives from Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.

3. The CWMA was formed to implement the water sharing award of the Cauvery water dispute tribunal as modified by apex court this year.

4. The meeting was held because Karnataka decided to appeal in the Supreme Court against the formation of Cauvery Water Management Authority.

5. Karnataka has been asked to release 31 tmcft water to Tamil Nadu in July.

6. 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.

7. According to the apex court order in February, Karnataka needs to release 177.25 TMC to Tamil Nadu. The Court had reduced the latter’s share of 192 TMC as ordained by the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal.

8. In case of Ponducherry, the authority directed that the existing arrangement for the supply of water to Ponducherry by Tamil Nadu will continue.

9. The authority is expected to meet once every 10 days during the monsoon months.

10. The CWMA may not face any problem in releasing water to Tamil Nadu because of good south-west monsoon this year.

11. It is only in a distress year that authority will face challenges.

12. According to Inter-State River Water Dispute Act, 1956, it is centre’s duty to notify a scheme to implement the award of a tribunal.

13. The Parliament has the power to modify the scheme, but Karnataka’s claim that the scheme requires parliamentary approval before it is implemented is questionable.

14. The apex court approved the draft scheme only after finding it to be “inconsonance with the dictum and directions in the Award as modified by court and also in conformity with Section 6A of the 1956 Act.

15. The next meeting of the CWMA is expected to be held in very soon to review the implementation of the orders passed by the authority in its first meeting.

16. For the successful functioning of  CWMA it needs:

• Cooperation of states in gathering data on rainfall.
• Cropping patterns
• Periodic withdraws from reservoirs
• Inflows and outflows

17. Way ahead:

• All parties concerned should leave behind the era of litigation and focus on non-political mechanism to make sound professional decisions on water sharing and distress.
• All states concerned should approach the issue of sharing of water of Inter-state River in a spirit of cooperation.
• Parties concerned should help authority in implementing verdict.

Some value addition points:

18. Constitutional Provisions and Legislations:

• The Constitutional Provision for Interstate water dispute has been laid down in Article 262
• The Article 262 provides for a specific law enacted by Parliament to adjudicate water disputes. It also bars jurisdiction of all courts, including the Supreme Court, on the same.

19.The River:

• The Cauvery River originates in Karnataka’s Kodagu district, flows into Tamil Nadu, and reaches the Bay of Bengal at Poompuhar.
• Parts of three Indian states – Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka – and the Union Territory of Pondicherry lie in the Cauvery basin.
• The river’s upper hilly catchment lies in Karnataka and Kerala. Its lower part lies in the plains of Tamil Nadu.
• Karnataka is the upper riparian state where the river originates; Tamil Nadu is a lower riparian state.