Come summer, and Tamil Nadu’s political class has again taken to the streets, this time against the Centre for not setting up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB), as directed by the Supreme Court in February. The CMB is supposed to draw up a schedule for the monthly release of water by Karnataka and ensure that this is implemented.

In a landmark ruling on February 16, the Supreme Court altered the terms of the Cauvery tribunal’s 2017 award. Under the new terms, Karnataka will release 177.25 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of Cauvery water annually, against the tribunal award of 192 TMC. The apex court came to the view that the tribunal had erred by not taking groundwater into account, and in this respect raised Tamil Nadu’s availability by 10 TMC. The remaining 4.75 TMC has been accorded to meet the needs of Bengaluru. The CMB was to be set up by March 29, or six weeks after the apex court ruling. The Centre says it has deferred the setting up of the CMB, fearing a disruptive impact on poll-bound Karnataka. However, the CMB needs to be in place at the earliest to ensure that Tamil Nadu gets its assigned share in the summer months.

Tamil Nadu has in the past accused Karnataka of not keeping to its monthly release commitment during this period. The repeated outbreak of water disputes points to weak institutional arrangements and an unwillingness to take a long-term view of the problem. While water availability has worsened over the years due to rising population, urbanisation and generally reduced precipitation, it is possible to arrive at sustainable solutions, by reviewing cropping patterns and water utilisation by cities.

While the revised tribunal award rightly takes groundwater into account, it is too generous towards Bengaluru, a metropolis that has done precious little to conserve its water resources. The ruling should have pushed Bengaluru to revive its dying lakes and recycle its water. This would have incentivised other metros to do the same. The Supreme Court has not questioned the tribunal’s estimates of water flows on the basis of 50 per cent dependability; this implies that water flows have been overestimated. The sharing formula, hence, comes under stress in rain-deficit years. In fact, the Cauvery basin has historically been a region of developed agricultural and industrial activity, with water availability falling short of demand.

Both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka should evolve long-term solutions. Karnataka has taken proactive steps to wean Cauvery basin farmers away from paddy and sugarcane towards millets. Tamil Nadu has taken to the SRI method of cultivating paddy, which cuts down sharply on water use. Civil society initiatives can further urban and rural initiatives. Water is too important to be left to courts and governments alone.

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