Tamil Nadu asks SC to order Karnataka water release

The government of Tamil Nadu has petitioned the Supreme Court to compel the neighboring state of Karnataka to release its share of water from the Cauvery River, escalating a long-standing interstate dispute. The legal filing, submitted on August 3, 2026, seeks a directive for Karnataka to implement an order from the Central Water Management Authority (CWMA) and to address a significant shortfall in water deliveries.

The CWMA, upholding a recommendation from the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), had directed Karnataka on July 30 to release water from its Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) reservoirs at a rate of 3,500 cubic feet per second (cusecs) for 15 days, starting from July 29. Tamil Nadu's application argues that Karnataka has willfully failed to comply, with actual flows at the key interstate measuring point of Billigundulu ranging only from 158 to 530 cusecs between July 29 and August 2.

Furthermore, Tamil Nadu contends that the CWMA's order for approximately 4.5 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water is itself insufficient. The state's plea asserts that, based on a pro-rata assessment of rainfall deficits in the Cauvery basin, it is owed a total of 26.954...