SC directs Karnataka to release 2.44 tmc water to TN

A bench headed by Justice RM Lodha, which three days ago had allowed release of 2 TMC water, increased by 0.44 TMC the amount of water to be provided to Tamil Nadu

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Karnataka government to release 2.44 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu whose plea for 12 TMC water was refused.

A bench headed by Justice RM Lodha, which three days back had allowed release of 2 TMC water, increased by 0.44 TMC the amount of water to be provided to Tamil Nadu on the recommendation of the Central Water Commission (CWC). The bench also comprising justices J Chelameswar and Madan B Lokur directed Karnataka to release the water immediately.

The court passed the order after going through the report submitted by an expert committee of CWC, which said that only 10 per cent of cultivated land in Tamil Nadu needs water. The committee said that 50 per cent of the arable land has already been cultivated and 40 per cent is on the verge of being cultivated and only the remaining 10 per cent requires water. "Having heard the parties and taking consideration of the expert committee report, we are satisfied that the interest of justice would be met if Karnataka is directed to release 2.44 TMC of water," the bench said.
 

On February 4, the apex court had directed Karnataka to release 2 TMC of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu and had asked the CWC to file report on the water requirement of the two warring states. The court had also asked the CWC to form a three-member expert body which will visit the states and directed it to file a report within two days.

Cusec is a measure of flow rate of water and is abbreviation for cubic feet per second (which is equivalent to a flow of 28.317 litres per second) and 11,000 cusecs flow for a day amounts to 1 TMC water.