Cauvery water dispute verdict expected today in Supreme Court: 10 points

The Supreme Court is likely to deliver its verdict on the Cauvery water dispute that is an emotive as well existential issue for thousands of families dependent on the river in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The apex court will pronounce judgment on the petitions filed by both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu challenging the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT), which announced its award February 5, 2007.

The Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on September 20, last year following a after a marathon hearing. On January 9 this year, the Supreme Court had said that the final judgment would be pronounced soon. Security was beefed up in both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu ahead of verdict in Cauvery water dispute case.

ALL ABOUT CAUVERY WATER DISPUTE: 10 THINGS TO KNOW

1. Distribution and use of the Cauvery river water has been a dispute between the regions of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for more than a century. The first trouble was recorded as early as 1881 when the then State of Mysore had planned a dam across the Cauvery river. The State of Madras objected to it.
2. Following mediation by the British, an agreement was reached in 1892 which was replaced by another accord in 1924. However, the dispute over distribution of Cauvery river water kept simmering through the pre- and post-Independence years.
3. It was in 1990 that the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) was set up. The tribunal announced its award in 2007. The Centre issued the relevant notification of the award only in 2013 following a Supreme Court order.
4. The Cauvery tribunal distributed the river water among four riparian states. The tribunal allocated 419 tmc feet water to Tamil Nadu, 270 tmc feet to Karnataka, 30 tmc feet to Kerala (as a tributary of Cauvery flows through it) and 7 tmc feet to Pudducherry (located at the mouth of Cauvery).
5. The Cauvery tribunal found that the river has 740 tmc feet of water at 50 per cent dependability calculating the volume on water availability over a period of hundred years. The tribunal mandated Karnataka to release 192 TMC feet of water every water year i.e. between June and May.
6. The tribunal also said that during bad monsoon, the states must share water distress in the same proportion. This provision has been the breeding ground for further water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. With monsoon being erratic in past few years and Bengaluru facing acute water crisis, Karnataka maintains that it doesn't have enough water in the Cauvery river basin to share with Tamil Nadu.
7. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu was also not happy with the Cauvery tribunal award. In August 2016, Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court claiming that the tribunal's award was erroneous as it took into consideration only one cropping season.
8. Tamil Nadu argued that the farmers in the state cultivated two crops a year, as a matter of rule and, hence, they should get more water than their counterparts in Karnataka. Tamil Nadu stated that its farmers needed more water than awarded by the Cauvery tribunal to begin sowing samba - a kind of paddy grown in the state.
9. Tamil Nadu government's move prompted Karnataka to approach the Supreme Court with the plea seeking additional water for the state. It also said that releasing more water than mandated by the Cauvery tribunal would not be possible on account of erratic monsoon and low rainfall.
10. In September 2016, the Supreme Court had, however, ordered Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu every day for 10 days. But the Supreme Court order resulted in widespread and violent protests across Karnataka. The districts of Mandya, Mysuru and Hassan were particularly affected.

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