SC warns Karnataka over defying orders, seeks status on water release from Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu

Supreme Court has ordered Karnataka to stop defying its orders and also asked the state to confirm if it has released water from the River Cauvery to Tamil Nadu, by tomorrow.

All the attempts made by the Supreme Court to broker a truce in the dispute over the River Cauvery have been ignored so far. Karnataka still is holding the water back which it was ordered to share with Tamil Nadu. The centre has also refused to create a new committee to examine the crisis, telling judges that parliament alone has the authority to create such an agency.

Tamil Nadu has been asking for more water for it its farmers from past one month. Supreme Court finally intervened and ruled in the favor of Tamil Nadu. Karnataka then obliged reluctantly, with riots across the state including in the capital of Bengaluru. After that, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that given that his own cities are nearly running dry, neighbor Tamil Nadu must wait till November for any more water.

Things didn’t go well as Supreme Court expected them to go. The orders were defied by Karnataka and Supreme Court has chastised Karnataka for defying its orders, including at today’s hearing. The judges were also taken aback by the centre stating that it cannot create the Cauvery Water Management Board, as ordered last week.

"It was a mistake," the centre admitted to judges who pointed out that at the last hearing, the government had agreed to setting up the agency. Only parliament can authorize the board, said the government's lawyers.

The court has asked the members of the board to visit Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and examine the situation and also listen to problems both sides claim to face.

A tribunal created earlier by the Supreme Court had decided in 2007 on how River Cauvery water should be allocated, but the verdict has been challenged by all states involved.
(Image:Indiatimes)