Tamil Nadu told a bench led by Justice Vikram Nath that its kharif crop had been affected by low releases. Senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan said the state had received 35 TMC against what it calculated as an entitlement of 59.191 TMC under normal conditions. He said the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee and the Cauvery Water Management Authority had not addressed the claimed shortfall.
Karnataka’s counsel, Shyam Divan, said several districts had been declared drought-prone and that the state had continued releases despite the conditions. He said the CWMA was monitoring reservoir storage, falling inflows, rainfall forecasts and flows needed for drinking water, industry and the environment.
Both state governments agreed in court that the Cauvery dispute was highly sensitive. The bench noted that the states could raise their concerns before the water-management authorities and that neither had been denied a hearing. Karnataka must file its response within a week; the court has not ordered a release of additional water at this stage.