Supreme Court refuses to interfere in Cauvery dispute

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee directing the Karnataka government to release 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Prashant Kumar Mishra said it is not inclined to entertain the plea of Tamil Nadu in which it has challenged the decision of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) upholding the order of the Committee on grounds that it is facing a drought-like situation due to deficit in rainfall.

The bench said expert bodies like the CWMA and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) have considered all relevant aspects like drought and deficit rainfall and passed the order and, therefore, it is not inclined to interfere with the order directing Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs of water.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has ruled out any talks over the Cauvery issue and said the Supreme Court's verdict on the issue holds good and is the decisive factor. Ruling out any scope for parleys as sought by neighouring Karnataka, state Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan indicated that Tamil Nadu will not compromise on its due share of Cauvery water.