Cauvery Water Management Authority to meet on September 29

CWMA to meet in Delhi on Sept 29 to review water availability; TN to press for 12,500 cusecs till Oct 15; shortfall of 7.8 tmc ft to be made good; Karnataka has 59.43 tmc ft storage; TN realised 42.79 tmc ft since June 1.

The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) will hold its meeting in New Delhi on September 29.

It will review water availability and Tuesday’s directive of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) to Karnataka to release 3,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) until October 15.

Senior officials in Chennai say Tamil Nadu will continue to press for the release of 12,500 cusecs for the period up to October 15. “We are entitled to a higher quantum, even if the deficit of about 53%, as assessed by the CWRC, alone is to be taken into account,” they point out.  Tamil Nadu contends that as on September 12, it should have got at least 7.8 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) more.

According to a calculation, the quantum of 3,000 cusecs per day till October 15 means that Karnataka has to release cumulatively 4.67 tmc ft. As on September 27, four reservoirs of the neighbouring State have a combined storage of 59.43 tmc ft, according to the data available on the website of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre.

As on September 25, Tamil Nadu realised 42.79 tmc ft since June 1 against its quota of around 117 tmc ft in a normal year. This month, the State received 11.21 tmc ft, according to the data of the Central Water Commission.