The CWDT panel has announced its decision on river water allocation.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Cauvery tribunal gives TN 419 tmcft, 270 to Karnataka</b>
February 05, 2007 14:24 IST
Last Updated: February 05, 2007 14:41 IST
The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal has announced its final verdict on Monday.
According to its verdict, Tamil Nadu gets 419 tmc ft of Cauvery water while Karnataka gets 270 tmc ft. The actual release of water by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu is to be 192 tmc ft annually. Further, Kerala will get 30 tmc ft and Puducherry 7 tmc ft.
The dispute over water sharing between the states dates back nearly 16 years. There has been constant friction between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery water issue, which assumes sharp political tones quite often and is usually resolved by the bounty of monsoons.
The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation had, earlier, suspended all its inter-state bus services to Karnataka.
Sources said the decision was taken as a precautionary measure to avoid any untoward incident. Presently, the buses are plying till the Karnataka border, the sources added.
Meanwhile, security had been strengthened at the state border and at the Mettur Reservoir to avert any untoward incident, police said.
Constituted on June 2, 1990, the Tribunal gave its interim award on June 25, 1991, directing Karnataka to release 205 tmcft of water every year to Tamil Nadu.
The Tribunal, comprising Chairman Justice N P Singh and members N S Rao and Sudhir Narain, reserved its verdict on July 27 last at the conclusion of marathon proceedings on various aspects of the dispute, namely allocation of water as per crop requirements, the cropping pattern and the mechanism for implementation of the final award.
With UNI inputs<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
and
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Water shockÂ
The final order has more negatives than positives
After 16 long years, the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal has come out with its final order to resolve a dispute which is more than a century old. Conceding that it is nearly impossible for any tribunal to satisfy all parties involved in the wrangle, it must be said that Karnataka has reasons to be disappointed. The tribunal has sought to address some of the grievances of Karnataka over the interim order passed in 1991, which led to large-scale violence in the state, but on the whole, the final order will be seen as a victory for Tamil Naduâs aggressive pursuit of its case against a historically-handicapped Karnataka.
<b>The river Cauvery runs for 381 km in Karnataka as against 357 km in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka contributes 425 tmc ft to Tamil Naduâs 252 tmc ft to the volume of water collected in the valley. And yet, since Tamil Nadu has traditionally been cultivating in a substantially larger area than Karnataka, the tribunal has accepted its âprescriptive rightsâ and alloted 419 tmc ft as against 270 tmc ft for Karnataka.</b> That apart, the tribunal has ordered Karnataka to ensure 192 tmc ft of water annually at Biligundlu, including 134 tmc ft during the âtough monthsâ of June to September. <b>Though 205 tmc ft specified in the interim order is brought down by 13 tmc ft, Karnataka contends that it will actually have to release 12 tmc ft more than before as the point of measurement is changed from Mettur to Biligundlu.</b>
<b>On the positive side, the tribunal has accepted Karnatakaâs argument for a distress formula and said that when the yield is less, the allocated shares will be proportionately reduced among all the states.</b> The tribunal has also <b>lifted the 11.2 lakh hectares ceiling imposed on Karnataka which means that the state is now free to make judicious use of the excess water when the monsoon is good. It has also given the green signal for taking up hydro-electric projects in the âcommon reach boundaryâ provided the specified water releases are ensured</b>. Tamil Nadu will also be happy with the order for constituting a regulatory authority to monitor the monthly releases. But, Karnataka has already expressed its displeasure with the award of the tribunal and made clear its intention to go in for an appeal. <b>The history of river disputes in this country shows that they have never been resolved satisfactorily through judicial process and in this context, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhiâs declaration to hold a dialogue with his Karnataka counterpart, is to be welcomed. The political leaders of Karnataka, in the meantime, should ensure that peace is maintained at any cost and elements which may try to rouse emotions are firmly dealt with.</b>
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I think the CWDT award has to be understood in its complexity so that we know what it is all about.
The big picture is the Kaveri river has a flow of 740 tmc ft. Of this 10 tmc ft is kept in reserve for flow.
TN was awarded 419 tmc ft, Karnataka 270 tmc ft, Kerala 30 tmc ft and Pondicherry 7 tmc ft.
Of the 419 tmc ft for TN they get 192 tmc ft from Karnataka at Bindigundulu a place 60 km unpstream from Mettur. This is important. In between B & M the flow gets augmented by 25 tmc ft in TN so that at Mettur, TN gets 192+25 equal 217 tmc ft. Pondicherry gets 7 tmc ft from this. So TN in effect gets 210 tmc ft in 2007. In the interim award they got 205 tmc ft at Mettur.
Both the states asked for unrealistic allocations- TN for 562 tmc ft and Karnataka for 465 tmc ft. The people are upset due to this.
The point to understand is that out of the 419 tmc ft that TN was awarded the local flow is 419 -210 equal 209 tmc ft in TN itself. So what was in dispute all along was the upstream flow of 740-10-209 equal 521 tmc ft. And this was divided in the ratio of TN gets 210 tmc ft, Karnataka gets 270 tmc ft and the rest to Kerala and Pondicherry.
But it is not presented this way.
If you ask me Karnataka should have accepted the 1991 award for it would have to give 205-25 equal 180 tmc ft to give at Bindigundulu. Now it is 192 tmc ft. The extra 12 are going to 7 tmc ft for Pondicherry and 5 tmc ft the bonus that TN official was inferring about. So it is a net loss of 5 tmc ft for Karnataka. The TN govt should offer to split the difference and all should be well. With good water management all can benefit and this will be history.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Cauvery tribunal gives TN 419 tmcft, 270 to Karnataka</b>
February 05, 2007 14:24 IST
Last Updated: February 05, 2007 14:41 IST
The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal has announced its final verdict on Monday.
According to its verdict, Tamil Nadu gets 419 tmc ft of Cauvery water while Karnataka gets 270 tmc ft. The actual release of water by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu is to be 192 tmc ft annually. Further, Kerala will get 30 tmc ft and Puducherry 7 tmc ft.
The dispute over water sharing between the states dates back nearly 16 years. There has been constant friction between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery water issue, which assumes sharp political tones quite often and is usually resolved by the bounty of monsoons.
The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation had, earlier, suspended all its inter-state bus services to Karnataka.
Sources said the decision was taken as a precautionary measure to avoid any untoward incident. Presently, the buses are plying till the Karnataka border, the sources added.
Meanwhile, security had been strengthened at the state border and at the Mettur Reservoir to avert any untoward incident, police said.
Constituted on June 2, 1990, the Tribunal gave its interim award on June 25, 1991, directing Karnataka to release 205 tmcft of water every year to Tamil Nadu.
The Tribunal, comprising Chairman Justice N P Singh and members N S Rao and Sudhir Narain, reserved its verdict on July 27 last at the conclusion of marathon proceedings on various aspects of the dispute, namely allocation of water as per crop requirements, the cropping pattern and the mechanism for implementation of the final award.
With UNI inputs<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
and
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Water shockÂ
The final order has more negatives than positives
After 16 long years, the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal has come out with its final order to resolve a dispute which is more than a century old. Conceding that it is nearly impossible for any tribunal to satisfy all parties involved in the wrangle, it must be said that Karnataka has reasons to be disappointed. The tribunal has sought to address some of the grievances of Karnataka over the interim order passed in 1991, which led to large-scale violence in the state, but on the whole, the final order will be seen as a victory for Tamil Naduâs aggressive pursuit of its case against a historically-handicapped Karnataka.
<b>The river Cauvery runs for 381 km in Karnataka as against 357 km in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka contributes 425 tmc ft to Tamil Naduâs 252 tmc ft to the volume of water collected in the valley. And yet, since Tamil Nadu has traditionally been cultivating in a substantially larger area than Karnataka, the tribunal has accepted its âprescriptive rightsâ and alloted 419 tmc ft as against 270 tmc ft for Karnataka.</b> That apart, the tribunal has ordered Karnataka to ensure 192 tmc ft of water annually at Biligundlu, including 134 tmc ft during the âtough monthsâ of June to September. <b>Though 205 tmc ft specified in the interim order is brought down by 13 tmc ft, Karnataka contends that it will actually have to release 12 tmc ft more than before as the point of measurement is changed from Mettur to Biligundlu.</b>
<b>On the positive side, the tribunal has accepted Karnatakaâs argument for a distress formula and said that when the yield is less, the allocated shares will be proportionately reduced among all the states.</b> The tribunal has also <b>lifted the 11.2 lakh hectares ceiling imposed on Karnataka which means that the state is now free to make judicious use of the excess water when the monsoon is good. It has also given the green signal for taking up hydro-electric projects in the âcommon reach boundaryâ provided the specified water releases are ensured</b>. Tamil Nadu will also be happy with the order for constituting a regulatory authority to monitor the monthly releases. But, Karnataka has already expressed its displeasure with the award of the tribunal and made clear its intention to go in for an appeal. <b>The history of river disputes in this country shows that they have never been resolved satisfactorily through judicial process and in this context, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhiâs declaration to hold a dialogue with his Karnataka counterpart, is to be welcomed. The political leaders of Karnataka, in the meantime, should ensure that peace is maintained at any cost and elements which may try to rouse emotions are firmly dealt with.</b>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think the CWDT award has to be understood in its complexity so that we know what it is all about.
The big picture is the Kaveri river has a flow of 740 tmc ft. Of this 10 tmc ft is kept in reserve for flow.
TN was awarded 419 tmc ft, Karnataka 270 tmc ft, Kerala 30 tmc ft and Pondicherry 7 tmc ft.
Of the 419 tmc ft for TN they get 192 tmc ft from Karnataka at Bindigundulu a place 60 km unpstream from Mettur. This is important. In between B & M the flow gets augmented by 25 tmc ft in TN so that at Mettur, TN gets 192+25 equal 217 tmc ft. Pondicherry gets 7 tmc ft from this. So TN in effect gets 210 tmc ft in 2007. In the interim award they got 205 tmc ft at Mettur.
Both the states asked for unrealistic allocations- TN for 562 tmc ft and Karnataka for 465 tmc ft. The people are upset due to this.
The point to understand is that out of the 419 tmc ft that TN was awarded the local flow is 419 -210 equal 209 tmc ft in TN itself. So what was in dispute all along was the upstream flow of 740-10-209 equal 521 tmc ft. And this was divided in the ratio of TN gets 210 tmc ft, Karnataka gets 270 tmc ft and the rest to Kerala and Pondicherry.
But it is not presented this way.
If you ask me Karnataka should have accepted the 1991 award for it would have to give 205-25 equal 180 tmc ft to give at Bindigundulu. Now it is 192 tmc ft. The extra 12 are going to 7 tmc ft for Pondicherry and 5 tmc ft the bonus that TN official was inferring about. So it is a net loss of 5 tmc ft for Karnataka. The TN govt should offer to split the difference and all should be well. With good water management all can benefit and this will be history.