New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday has issued notice to the Karnataka government on a fresh plea filed by the Tamil Nadu government in the Cauvery water dispute.
A bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Vijay Bishnoi directed Karnataka to file its response within one week.
The matter will be heard again in October.
Tamil Nadu has told the Supreme Court that there is currently a shortfall of around 16 TMC of Cauvery water from Karnataka.
The Tamil Nadu government has sought directions to Karnataka to release additional water to make up for the shortfall on a proportional basis.
Senior Advocate C.S.Vaidyanathan, appearing for Tamil Nadu, argued that the state has not received the required share of water.
He said the issue was also raised before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).
According to Tamil Nadu, the CWMA had directed Karnataka to release smaller quantities of water on different occasions but did not order the state to make up for the overall shortfall.
Senior Advocate Shyam Diwan, appearing for Karnataka, opposed the fresh demand made by Tamil Nadu.
Karnataka told the court that despite facing drought-like conditions, it had released more water than required under the directions of the CWMA.
Karnataka also argued that the CWMA is an expert statutory body dealing with the issue. It said the authority should assess the actual availability of water, weather conditions and other circumstances before taking any decision.
Karnataka further submitted that it has complied with the directions of the CWMA despite difficult conditions. It said disputes relating to water distribution should first be addressed before the concerned statutory authority.
