Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi/ Bengaluru

New Delhi/ Bengaluru, Aug 17: The Karnataka government on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it would comply with the Cauvery Water Management Authority's (CWMA) direction to release 12,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, despite the difficulty involved.

A Bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta was hearing a plea filed by Tamil Nadu seeking implementation of the CWMA direction requiring Karnataka to release water to the neighbouring state.

Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Karnataka, told the Bench that the state would make every effort to maintain the directed release.

“It is going to be our endeavour to ensure that the 12,000 cusecs directed by the CWMA will be there, even though it will be very difficult for us,” Divan said.

He informed the court that the water release during the first four to five days had been around 6,000 cusecs, but Karnataka expected to make up for the shortfall in the coming days.

The Supreme Court directed Karnataka to report on the status of the water release and asked the state to comply with the CWMA order. The matter has been posted for further hearing on Monday, August 24.

On August 12, the apex court had said that pleas filed by the Tamil Nadu government and others, including the DMK, would be taken up on August 17.

Tamil Nadu had earlier approached the Supreme Court, claiming that the state was not receiving its due share of Cauvery water amid a rain-deficient year.

The Tamil Nadu government, led by Chief Minister M K Stalin, approached the apex court on August 3 seeking directions to Karnataka for the immediate release of Cauvery water.

In its plea, Tamil Nadu claimed that both the quantum allocated to it by the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) and the quantity actually released by Karnataka were far below the state's requirement.

A CWRC meeting held on July 28 had directed Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water for 15 days beginning July 29.

However, Tamil Nadu said the actual flow recorded at Biligundlu ranged between 158 and 550 cusecs from July 29 to August 2.

The latest proceedings come amid the continuing dispute between the two states over the sharing of Cauvery waters, with the Supreme Court now seeking Karnataka's status report on compliance with the CWMA's 12,000-cusecs direction.