The Cauvery Water Management Authority issued an order to Karnataka to release 9.19 tmcft water to Tamil Nadu in the month of June. The order was issued during a meeting that took place under the leadership of the chairman of the authority, S Masood Hussain. Officials from both governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were present during the meeting in Delhi.
This order was issued by the authority after a Tamil Nadu official requested them to instruct Karnataka to release water in time for the Kuruvai crops in the delta districts of Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu’s principal secretary, Public Works Department SK Prabakaran told media that representatives from Tamil Nadu requested the CWMA to order the release of water without any shortfall. The CWMA assured that it will provide the water share as mandated for June and has ordered the release of 9.19 tmcft water to Tamil Nadu.
According to reports, the Mekedatu issue was not discussed in this meeting. The Mekedatu project involves building multipurpose balancing reservoir at Mekedatu across Cauvery in Ramanagara district in Karnataka.
The last meeting of CWMA was held in December 2018 when Tamil Nadu expressed strong reservations against the go-ahead issued to Karnataka to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Mekedatu project.
In May 2018, the Supreme Court had delivered the final verdict in the decades-long dispute. According to the verdict, Karnataka is required to release 177.25 tmcft of water from Billigundlu dam on Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border to Mettur dam on Cauvery every year for the next 15 years.