Cauvery row: Karnataka says it will comply with SC order

Karnataka government on Wednesday said it would stick to the Supreme Court direction to the state to release 2,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu till further orders.

"We will stick to the Supreme Court order. I want to say no more than that," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra told reporters on the sidelines of a media briefing on cabinet meeting.

The Supreme Court had on Tuesday retained its direction to Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs till further orders and asked the two states to ensure peace and harmony, saying citizens should not become law unto themselves.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra, which commenced the crucial hearing on various issues arising out of the dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over sharing of Cauvery waters, had said it first intended to adjudicate the issue of maintainability of appeals filed by both the states and Kerala against the Cauvery water dispute tribunal's 2013 award.

"The interim order dated October 4 directing Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu will continue till further orders," the bench also comprising Justices Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar had said.

A court-appointed Supervisory Committee has submitted its report on the ground situation in the basin region in both the states, which have locked horns over water release in recent months, escalating tension over the more than century-old dispute.

The bench had also said on Tuesday it would first go into the issue of maintainability of appeals filed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry against the award of tribunal and then hear the arguments on the report filed by the committee.