(a) the obstacles in not implementing the order of the Cauvery
River Water Disputes Tribunal;
(b) whether the Government proposes to implement the orders of
the Tribunal by according it the status of an order of the
Supreme Court; and
(c) if not, the reasons therefor?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES(SHRI JAI PRAKASH NARAYAN YADAV)
(a) to (c) The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) passed
an Order on 25th June, 1991 giving interim relief to the State of
Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Pondicherry. The Central
Government published the aforesaid Order of the Tribunal on 10th
December, 1991 in the Official Gazette. The said Order is,
therefore, now binding on the parties to the dispute and is
required to be given effect to by them. The Award requires the
State of Karnataka to release water so as to ensure availability
of 205 TMC in Mettur in a water year. This has been ensured in 9
years out of last 14 years. For managing water supplies in years
when the monsoon situation is not satisfactory, the Monitoring
Committee of Cauvery River Authority has made efforts for
evolving a formula to share the waters during a distress
situation. However, so far no agreed formula has been evolved.
The Central Government in 2002 amended the ISWD Act,
1956 whereby the said Act is now the Inter-State River Water
Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956. Sub-section 2 of Section 6 of the
ISRWD Act, 1956 stipulates that the decision of the Tribunal
after its publication in the Official Gazette by the Central
Government shall have the same force as an order or decree of the
Supreme Court.