Centre constitutes team to assess Cauvery basin situation

The Centre on Wednesday constituted a high-level technical team to visit the Cauvery basin area to assess the ground realities there.

Central Water Commission (CWC) Chairman G S Jha heads the team, constituted by the Ministry for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

The team was set up in pursuance to the October 4 Supreme Court order asking the Cauvery Supervisory Committee to visit the river basin area in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to assess the ground situation and report back to it by October 17.

The team members will converge at Bengaluru on October 7 for a preparatory meeting. It will submit its report to the Supreme Court on October 17.

The other member of the team include CWC member S Masood Husain, Chief Engineer, Krishna and Godavari Basin Organisation, R K Gupta, Chief Secretary or his representative from the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and one chief engineer each from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.

The bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit on Tuesday directed constituting the supervisory committee headed by the CWC chairman.

The panel is expected to visit Hemavathi, Harangi, Krishna Raj Sagar and Kabini reservoirs in Karnataka and Mettur, lower Bhavani dam and Amaravati reservoirs in Tamil Nadu.

It will be submitting its report before October 18, the date when the court would be hearing the matter again.