has taken life and caused riots in Karnataka
Cauvery Water dispute becoming
more complicated.
and Tamil Nadu in early September
2016.
The Cauvery water dispute is taking new
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are in long
twists & turns in every passing day.
conflict over the sharing of Cauvery
Supreme court and Central Govt. has
water. Kodagu (earlier name – Coorg),
failed to resolve this water sharing crisis
where the Cauvery begins its journey, is
between Tamilnadu & Karnataka under
witnessing landscape changes which
the federal water sharing structure.
impacts water inflow to the river.
Karnataka, the state in the upstream of
Kodagu lies on the eastern slope of
Cauvery,
has twice in recent weeks
Western Ghats, a biological hotspot
ignored the Supreme Court's order to give
which is home to the Cauvery and is also
water to Tamil Nadu. Supreme Court
primary catchment area.
modifying its earlier order has asked the
talukas
Karnataka Government to release 12000
Somwarpet and Virajpet, are receiving
Cusecs of water, instead of 15000
low rainfall for the second consecutive
Cusecs as ordered earlier. The order
year with deficit of 21% to 39% till
came following Karnataka Government
September. This has led to lower inflow
insisting that it does not have enough
into Cauvery and 36% deficit in the
water to release due to poor rainfall. Still
Krishna Raja Sagara dam reservoir
Karnataka is delaying to release water.
in Mandya in Karnataka.
To resolve the crisis and monitoring the
rainfall, the changing landscape is also
actual condition Supreme Court had asked
affecting the river ecology. Apart from
the centre to set up a Cauvery Water
this, illegal increased sand mining
Management Board whose experts were to
travel to both states to assess their needs.
But surprisingly Centre on 3rd October,
2016 said it cannot create this board and
needs the authorization of parliament to set
up the new committee. Already the dispute
of
Kodagu,
viz.
The three
Madikeri,
Besides
low
activity from Cauvery and its tributaries
has sufficiently reduced recharging of
groundwater and also surface water flow
in lean period.
In 2007, a tribunal set up by the Supreme
Court decided how the water from the River
4
Integrated River Basin Management Society