Cauvery water dispute: SC to resume hearing today

The Supreme Court will today resume its hearing on the Cauvery water dispute after it directed the Karnataka government to release 2000 cusecs per day to Tamil Nadu till further orders are given.

In response, the Karnataka government has filed a petition in the court asking for larger constitutional bench to be constituted to look into the dispute.

A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra, Amitava Roy and AM Khanwilkar are currently hearing the case.

The G S Jha-led Supreme Court appointed team on Monday submitted its report before the apex court after inspecteing the Krishnaraja Sagar and the Kabini dams in Karnataka, and the Mettur and Bhavani Sagar dams in Tamil Nadu.

The high-level central technical team also interacted with public works department officials and delta farmers in Thanjavur Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts. The farmers in Tiruchirapalli and delta regions told the team that the samba crop will be damaged if water from the Cauvery is not released by Karnataka.

The committee has stated 42 of the 48 talukas of Karnataka in the Cauvery basin have been affected by drought. The team was constituted as per orders of the apex court to assess the realities in the Cauvery basin areas in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.