Question

Cauvery water issue between karnataka and tamilnadu

Answer 1

Answer:

The sharing of waters of the kaveri river has been the source of a serious conflict between the two states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The genesis of this conflict rests in two agreements in 1892 and 1924 between the Madras Presidency and kingdom of Mysore the 802 kilometers(498mi) kaveri river has

${44000km}^{2}$

basin area in Tamil Nadu and

${32000km}^{2}$

basin area in Karnataka. The imflow from Karnataka is 425 TMCft whereas that from tamil nadu is 252TMCft.

Based on the inflow Karnataka is demanding its due to share of water from the river. It states that the pre-independence agreements are invalid and are skewed heavily in the favour of the Madras Presidency and has demanded a renegotiated settlement based on 'equitable sharing of the waters'. Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, pleads that it has already developed almost 3,000,000 acres of land and as a result has come to depend very heavily on the existing pattern if usage. Any change in this pattern, it says, will adversely affect the livelihood of millions of the farmers of the state.

Decades of negotiations between the parties bore no fruit. Then the government of india constituted a tribunal in 1990 to look into the matter. After hearing arguments of all the parties involved for the next 16 years, the tribunal, delivered its final verdict on 5 February 2007. In its verdict, the tribunal allocated 419 TMC of water annually to Tamil Nadu and 282 TMC of Karnataka; 30 TMC of Cauvery river water to Kerala and 7 TMC to Puducherry. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu being the major share holders. Karnataka was ordered to release 192 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu in a normal year from July to May.

This dispute however, did not end there, as all four states decided to file review petitions seeking clarifications and possible renegotiation to the order.