The Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu dates back to the 19th century. The Supreme Court finally decided Friday to allocate more water to Karnataka.
However, the dispute has its genesis decades ago. Agreements were signed between the erstwhile Madras Presidency and princely state of Mysore to share water, first in 1892 and then in 1924. Here’s a timeline of this legal battle:
1924: It was decided that water share for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry would be 75 per cent, 23 per cent for Karnataka and the remaining 2 per cent for Kerala.
1956: The reorganisation of states brought significant changes as the river became part of what came to be called the Cauvery basin, spread over Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala.
1990: The Centre constituted the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. An interim order was issued on 25 February 1991, where the tribunal awarded 205 TMC (thousand million cubic) feet of water to Tamil Nadu. Karnataka was upset with this order.
1991: Karnataka issued an ordinance nullifying the interim award. The Supreme Court upheld that Karnataka should release water immediately, which it refused. Following this, Karnataka witnessed the worst anti-Tamil riots that claimed 18 lives.
1993: Then Tamil Nadu CM J. Jayalalithaa went on a fast at the MGR memorial demanding the state’s share of Cauvery water. Later, the state moved the Supreme Court, seeking the release of 30 TMC ft of water.
1998: The Cauvery River Authority (CRA) was formed to ensure that the water sharing took place effectively
2005: The water war continued, and delegations of farmers from both states went to the Cauvery monitoring committee panel to explain their distress. A distress sharing formula was worked out, but Karnataka refused to implement it.
2006: Several rounds of talks between the farmers of the states took place. But no solution was arrived at.
2007: The Cauvery tribunal announced its final award, saying Tamil Nadu would get 419 TMC ft , Karnataka 270 TMC ft, Kerala 30 TMC ft and Puducherry was allotted 7 TMC ft.
2007: The UPA government notified the final award by the CWDT, brining into effect the order of the tribunal.
2007-2012: The CRA, headed by then PM Manmohan Singh, directed Karnataka to release 9,000 cusecs of water, but both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka rejected this. Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court.
2013: Jayalalithaa moved the Supreme Court, seeking the constitution of a Cauvery water board. The Election Commission directed the Central Water Resources Ministry to defer the decision as elections were to take place in Karnataka.
2013: Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court, seeking Rs 2,480 cr in damages from Karnataka for not following the orders of the Cauvery tribunal
2013: Karnataka decided to build a reservoir at Mekedatu across the river to generate hydroelectric power. Jayalalithaa sought the PM’s intervention.
2014: The tribunal met in New Delhi to hear applications filed by the Centre, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala seeking clarification on the final award it had passed on 5 February, 2007, allocating the quantum of water for each State.
2015: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said in the assembly that the state government was committed to implementing the Mekedatu dam project.
2015: Jayalalithaa wrote to PM Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in the Cauvery issue.
2016: The top court asked Karnataka to consider taking steps to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu to help the state continue to ‘exist as an entity’.
2016: Karnataka began releasing water to Tamil Nadu as per the Supreme Court order, even as protests against the decision continued to disrupt inter-state movement.
2016: Succumbing to political pressure and a wave of public protests, the Karnataka government filed a plea to modify the Supreme Court’s order directing it to share Cauvery water with Tamil Nadu.
July 2017: The apex court said it would take a balanced view keeping in mind the interests of the people from both states.
20 September, 2017: The Supreme Court said that enough confusion had been created on the issue for years and that the court would deliver its final judgment in a month’s time.
16 February 2017: The Supreme Court dents Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water by 14.74 thousand million cubic (TMC) annually. That share will now go to Karnataka.