The Supreme Court on Monday directed Karnataka to comply with the directions of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, while posting Tamil Nadu's application to August 24. The Court also called for a status report from the authority.

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

Appearing for Tamil Nadu, Senior Advocate CS Vaidyanathan told the court that Karnataka was not complying with the CWMA's directions and that the State was not receiving the water required for release to farmers.

“As of this morning they have 76% live storage in the reservoir,” the counsel submitted, arguing that Tamil Nadu had received only 14 TMC against the 64 TMC it was entitled to under the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award. Even after accounting for the deficit in flows this year, Tamil Nadu claimed that it should have received a proportionate 55.29%, leaving a backlog of about 20 TMC.

Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Karnataka, disputed the allegation of non-compliance and said the State was facing “extremely severe distress” in the Cauvery basin. He said the CWMA had itself taken the situation into account while issuing its directions.

Divan said the first CWMA direction required Karnataka to ensure a release of 3,500 cusecs for 15 days, up to August 11. According to him, Karnataka had not only met the requirement but had released substantially more water during the period.

He also explained that water released from the Krishna Raja Sagar reservoir takes about 48 hours to reach downstream locations and that established protocols had to be followed before sudden changes could be made to reservoir releases.

On the latest direction requiring a flow of 12,000 cusecs from August 12, Divan acknowledged that the flow had been lower during the first four to five days, at around 6,000 cusecs, but said Karnataka expected to make up the shortfall in the following days.

He informed the court that the flow on Monday morning had risen to 12,607 cusecs and that the reservoir gates had been opened. Karnataka, he said, would endeavour to maintain the CWMA-directed flow of 12,000 cusecs despite the difficulties faced by the State.

The Bench questioned Karnataka's position on compliance with the 12,000-cusecs direction and observed that the matter should be reviewed after a further period.

The court subsequently adjourned the matter for a week. In its order, the Bench directed Karnataka to ensure compliance with the CWMA directions and ordered that the case be listed next Monday so that the latest status of water releases could be placed before the court.

"Let this matter be posted after a week so that further status regarding the release of water can be reported. In the meantime, the respondent to ensure compliance of CWMA directions," the bench observed.

Case: MA 2445/2026 in C.A. No. 2453/2007 Diary No. 46527 / 2026 STATE OF TAMIL NADU Vs STATE OF KARNATAKA