Cauvery water row: Tamil Nadu wants Rs 2,480 crore compensation from Karnataka

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday asked the Karnataka government for a compensation of Rs 2,480 crore for not releasing Cauvery River water to the state despite the Supreme Court directing it to do so. The apex court had directed the Karnataka government to keep releasing 2,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu each day until the next order.

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered both the state governments to file a list of witnesses within a week and that the affidavit comprising the details of the witnesses should also be filed within four weeks. It had, however, announced on January 4 that the hearing on the Cauvery River water row should continue on February 7.

The lawyer representing the Tamil Nadu government, Shekhar Naphade, requested the bench to bring the matter to an end by holding a continuous hearing following which the court said that the hearing would be held continuously for three weeks at 2 pm each day from February 7 so that an appeal could be finalised, ANI reported. Till then, Karnataka has to keep releasing 2,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu each day.

After February 7, the SC will hear the case along with a bunch of appeals for the distribution of water between the two states as well as Kerala, which has also claimed for its share of the Cauvery water.

The order has given rise to concerns within the Karnataka government due to the water crisis in the state, especially the capital city of Bengaluru, since releasing water to Tamil Nadu could leave very little water for the state. The Karnataka government has consistently stated that the people of the state, especially farmers, could face severe problems during the summer if the state keeps releasing this amount of water to Tamil Nadu.