Kaveri River Water Dispute
The sharing of waters of the river Kaveri has been the source of a serious conflict between the Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The genesis of this conflict, rests in two controversial agreements—one signed in 1892 and another in 1924—between the erstwhile Madras Presidency and Princely State of Mysore. The 802 km Kaveri river has 32,000 sq km basin area in Karnataka and 44,000 sq km basin area in Tamil Nadu.
The state of Karnataka contends that it does not receive its due share of water from the river as does Tamil Nadu. Karnataka claims that these agreements were skewed heavily in favour of the Madras Presidency, and has demanded a renegotiated settlement based on "equitable sharing of the waters". Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, pleads that it has already developed almost 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km2) of land and as a result has come to depend very heavily on the existing pattern of usage. Any change in this pattern, it says, will adversely affect the livelihood of millions of farmers in the state.
Decades of negotiations between the parties bore no fruit. The Government of India then constituted a tribunal in 1990 to look into the matter. After hearing arguments of all the parties involved for the next 16 years, the tribunal delivered its final verdict on 5 February 2007. In its verdict, the tribunal allocated 419 billion ft³ (12 km³) of water annually to Tamil Nadu and 270 billion ft³ (7.6 km³) to Karnataka; 30 billion ft³ (0.8 km³) of Kaveri river water to Kerala and 7 billion ft³ (0.2 km³) to Pondicherry. The dispute however, appears not to have concluded, as all four states deciding to file review petitions seeking clarifications and possible renegotiation of the order.
| Karnataka | Tamil Nadu | Kerala | Pondicherry | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basin Area (in km²) | 34,273 (42%) | 44,016 (54%) | 2,866 (3.5%) | 148(-) | 81,155 |
| Drought area in the basin (in km²) | 21,870 (63.8%) | 12,790 (29.2%) | -- | -- | 34,660 |
| Contribution of state (in billion ft³ according to Ktaka) | 425 (53.7%) | 252 (31.8%) | 113 (14.3%) | 790 | |
| Contribution of state (in billion ft³ according to TN) | 392 (52.9%) | 222 (30%) | 126 (17%) | 740 | |
| Quantity demanded by each state | 465 (41%) | 566 (50%) | 100 (9%) | 9.3 (1%) | 1140.3 |
| Share for each state as per TN's demand | 177 (24%) | 566 (76%) | 5 (1%) | - | 748 |
| Share for each state as per tribunal verdict of 2007 | 270 (37%) | 419 (58%) | 30 (4%) | 7 (1%) | 726 |
Read more about Kaveri River Water Dispute: History of The Dispute, Post Independence Developments, 1970 S, 1980s, Judgement, 2012
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