SAVE THE ENDANGERED RIVER CAUVERY- UNRESOLVED ISSUES EVEN IN A PLENTIFUL YEAR

SAVE THE ENDANGERED RIVER CAUVERY- UNRESOLVED ISSUES EVEN IN A PLENTIFUL YEAR

1. The brimming reservoirs in the Cauvery river basin have definitely made functioning in its first year lots easier for the Cauvery Management Board. Apparently, the water release quota fixed by the Tribunal for June has been fully released and the July quota is also likely to be released in full. But one cannot lose sight of the fact that this year also, the release of water was essentially because Karnataka was not able to hold on to the water. Instead of appreciating this reality, the farmers in Tamil Nadu are very happy and they are preparing themselves for a good cultivation season during 2018-19.

2. The following are the admitted facts and the legal position after many rounds of litigation:

a. The average dependable water flow in the Cauvery basin at the Lower Coleroon dam is 740tmc.

b. Of this Tamil Nadu should get 419tmc, Karnataka 270tmc, Kerala 30tmc and Union Territory of Puducherry 7tmc.

c. In a normal year, Karnataka has to release at Billigundulu, (after modification by Supreme Court) 177.25tmc which will include 10tmc for environmental purpose.

d. The water release from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu month-wise is as under-

June- 9.19tmc

July- 31.24tmc

August- 45.95tmc

September- 36.76tmc

October- 20.22tmc

November- 13.78tmc

December- 7.35tmc

January- 2.76tmc

February- 2.5tmc

March- 2.5tmc

April- 2.5tmc

May- 2.5tmc

e. The Tribunal has further directed that in a distress year, the share should be reduced proportionately.

f. The Tribunal has defined that the “water year” for Cauvery will commence on June 1 and end on May 31.

g. The Tribunal has held that there shall be two irrigation seasons in every “water year”, with the first season monsoon season which commences on June 1 and ends on January 31 next year.

h. The Lean Irrigation Season will be from February 1 to May 31. The Supreme Court has further clarified that this award will remain binding for 15 years and there cannot be a further judicial review of this issue for the next 15 years.

3. A quick summary of releases at Billigundulu during the last 6 years is as under-

2010- 211tmc

2011- 240tmc

2012- 100tmc

2013- 260tmc

2014- 230tmc

2015- 154tmc

2016- 70tmc

2017- 120tmc

If we analyse the actual discharges we find that during the years 2010 and 2011, Karnataka had released about 100tmc more water than it should. However, in the next year, there has been a deficit of 92tmc (before Supreme Court modification). Again, during the year 2013, Karnataka has released excess water of about 68tmc and in 2014, 38tmc extra was released. But, during the next 3 years, there has been a deficit of 38tmc in 2015, in 2016, a deficit of 122tmc and in 2017, a deficit of 72tmc. It is not unusual to hear Karnataka politicians declaring that many years Karnataka releases more water than it should and such excess water should off-set the deficit in the coming year.

4. We must appreciate that the Cauvery is an excessively dammed river. There is virtually no tributary of Cauvery which has not been dammed. Most of these dams are impounding dams which are environmentally unfriendly and not check dams which are environment friendly. Jawaharlal Nehru described the impounding, multipurpose river dam projects as “Temples of modern India”.

5. India, despite having many perennial rivers, is relatively a water-scarce country. The per-capita availability of water in India is 1,545 cubic metres per person as opposed to China’s naturally available annual water flow of 2,114 cubic metres per person. Despite calls for more efficient water management, the Union of India has been aggressively pushing for major impounding dams like Tehri whose total capacity is 141.26tmc and Sardar Sarovar whose total capacity is 335.49tmc. The whole of the world except China and India are quite convinced that the impounding dams are disastrous in the long run and cause severe environmental degradation. In fact, U.S. is seriously contemplating physically removing all the dams under the control of Tennessee Valley Authority. Moreover, in India, it is not unusual for relatively new dams to break because of the use of sub-standard material. But that is another story altogether. 

6. The first of the problems that, the Cauvery Management Authority will face this year is to decide on Karnataka’s claim that if Karnataka releases excess water during the irrigation season commencing from June 1 to January 31, Karnataka will be justified in not releasing water during the lean months.

7. In the past, during 2011, Karnataka had released 48tmc extra, but in 2012 it released only 100tmc. Is it open for Karnataka to state that since we released 48tmc extra in 2011, the actual deficit of Tamil Nadu during 2012 is only 48tmc? Similarly, during 2013-14, Karnataka had released 106tmc more than what it should. But in 2015 there was a deficit of 38tmc, in 2016- a deficit of 122tmc and 2017- a deficit of 72tmc. In other words, can the Cauvery Management Authority allow a system of brought forward and carried over in sharing water flow? Traditionally, under International law, the lowest riparian State can have the right to excess waters during surplus years because it is more likely to suffer the worst during a deficit season. However, the water tribunals in independent India have held that even though the lowest riparian are entitled for surplus excess water, they cannot put up a claim for prescriptive rights in respect of surplus excess water.

8. Interestingly, the Cauvery water tribunal has held that every year 15tmc should go to Bay of Bengal through seepage and confluence. Of this, Karnataka should release 5tmc and Tamil Nadu should release 10tmc. While in a surplus year, States will not appropriate this quota of environmental use, it is doubtful whether they will do it in a deficit year. Confluence will only take place more during North-east monsoon season only in respect of the rain that is precipitated over tail-end, delta regions. This will be only during October and November and for the rest of the year during high tides, sea water will intrude into all the esturine branches of Cauvery. Already this has started to happen in an alarming way.

CAUVERY DELTA

          

9. We must not lose sight of the fact that all the riparian States today transfer river waters to places which are not technically in the river water basin. Karnataka’s diversion of KRS waters to Bangalore and Tamil Nadu’s diversion of Veeranam waters to Chennai are illustrations of unfair inter-basin transfer of waters. Technically, it is easier to divert Palar and Thenpennai waters from Nandi foothills to Bangalore than transferring water from KRS. But the stark reality is that these rivers are almost dead and it will not be possible for them to supply water to Bangalore. In other words, we must nurture and preserve river systems rather than adopting technologies that will make the river system go extinct. Many in India believed that river Saraswati actually existed and it once flowed through the State of Gujarat parallel to the surviving river Indus. Our water planners should realise that if a river and its tributaries are dammed at regular intervals, then we will only have a long cesspool of water and not a flowing bio system. Hence, it is important to ensure that water flows regularly to the estuarine region during the regular seasons. In fact, it will be best for the Cauvery river water Tribunal to ensure that the entire water meant for environmental use (15tmc) is discharged to the sea during May and June. This will not only replenish the sub-soil water system in the Cauvery tail-end delta but also ensure that there will be a better spawning of fishes during the reproductive season commencing from July. Hence, the CMB should ensure that prescribed amount of waters regularly reach the sea from the Cauvery basin.

10.         In States like Tamil Nadu, there are people who believe that all the rains that are precipitated on land should be used by the people for agricultural, industrial or domestic use. This is a greedy mentality. It is important for river systems to regularly discharge waters into to the ocean. Otherwise, oceans will become saltier and we should learn from the miserable experience of Russia in damming river Amur and total dehydration of Caspian Sea. 

Let us learn from the past mistakes. The mistakes need not be our own.

To end, an intelligent person learns from other people’s mistakes. For an above average person, sufferings from mistakes give him a costly lesson and thus compelled to learn. Only a fool fails to learn even from their own mistakes.