Cauvery water dispute: SC calls for next hearing on April 9

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the Centre's plea seeking clarification on the February 16 verdict regarding setting up of a Cauvery management scheme in the decades-old river water sharing dispute.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud kept for hearing on April 9 the Central government's plea after its counsel referred to divergent views of the concerned states on the issue of setting up of the scheme.

"We will take this matter on April 9 along with the plea of Tamil Nadu," the bench said, when the Centre's counsel Wasim Qadri sought urgent hearing of the plea.

The apex court, in its verdict, had asked the Centre to formulate a scheme to ensure compliance of its 465-page judgement on the decades-old Cauvery dispute. It modified the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) award of 2007 and made it clear that it will not be extending time for this on any ground.

The apex court had on February 16 raised the 270 tmcft share of Cauvery water for Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu's share while compensating it by allowing extraction of 10 tmcft groundwater from the river basin, saying the issue of drinking water has to be placed on a "higher pedestal".

With the apex court's verdict, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry would be annually entitled to 404.25 tmcft, 284.75 tmcft, 30 tmcft and 7 tmcft of Cauvery water respectively out of the total of 740 tmcft.