The dispute escalated after Karnataka cited a water deficit, leading to a delay in releasing Tamil Nadu's due share.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday moved a resolution inside the Assembly unanimously urging the Centre to direct Karnataka to release water as per orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to protect the livelihood of farmers in delta regions.
Stalin has moved the resolution on the first day of the winter session of Tamil Nadu assembly.
“In order to protect the livelihood of the Cauvery delta farmers, who are the basis for Tamil Nadu’s agriculture. This August House unanimously urges the Union Government to direct the Karnataka Govt to release water to Tamil Nadu as per the directions of the Cauvery Water Management Authority,” Stalin said while speaking on the resolution.
The move comes after Stalin’s earlier appeal to Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, seeking intervention to ensure Karnataka's compliance with the prescribed monthly schedule for releasing Cauvery water, as mandated by the Supreme Court in its 2018 order.
The dispute escalated after Karnataka cited a water deficit, leading to a delay in releasing Tamil Nadu's due share.
The Karnataka government has delayed releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu citing severe drought in parts of the state.
Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar on October 5 had said that cumulative inflows into the reservoirs in Karnataka's Cauvery basin were decreasing and the water in the reservoirs was just above half of the required stock.
Last week, farmer groups and pro-Kannada outfits held a state-wide bandh against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
The Cauvery water dispute, a decades-long conflict between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, traces its roots back to the British era.
An initial resolution was reached in 1924 when the Mysore princely state and the Madras presidency agreed on terms. Mysore was permitted to build a dam at Kannambadi village, storing 44.8 thousand million cubic feet of water, with provisions for a review after 50 years. Despite this agreement, both states found themselves in the Supreme Court multiple times after Independence, seeking resolution.