Chennai: The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Tuesday directed Karnataka to comply with the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee’s (CWRC) recommendation to release 2.5 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu for May.

However, the authority has failed to guarantee the lower riparian State, Tamil Nadu, to receive its due share of Cauvery water as per the distress formula of the Supreme Court’s verdict.

Sources in the State Water Resources Department said that there is no “hope” of getting the State’s due share of water from Karnataka despite the CWRC recommendations and CWMA direction.

They have repeatedly raised the issue over the shortfall and insisted the authority to direct the Karnataka government to release 7 tmcft of water to match the shortfall from January this year along with the 2.5 tmcft of water due for May.

The cumulative flows realised at the inter-State contact point of Biligundulu was 78.696 tmcft as against 174.333 tmcft between June 1 and April 25. The shortfall accounts for 95.537 tmcft of water during the period.

“The CWMA listens to our plea but does not redress the grievance to get the stipulated quantity of water for the year. They only direct the upper riparian State to release water for the respective month. For that, they (Karnataka) responded negatively by citing poor rainfall in the catchment areas,” said a reliable source privy to the development at the CWMA meeting held in Delhi on Tuesday.

Additional Chief Secretary of the Water Resources Department Sandeep Saxena represented Tamil Nadu at the meeting chaired by CWMA’s Chairperson S.K. Haldar to discuss and arrive at a consensus on sharing Cauvery water for May.

The officials from Tamil Nadu gave details on the available water level in Mettur, which is the lifeline of the Delta region. They pointed out that Karnataka has not released water since January, despite CWMA direction.

They also pointed out that the cumulative water storage in the reservoirs — Harangi, Hemavathy, Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagar — in Karnataka, is 19.7 tmcft and that they need around 4 tmcft for drinking water purposes.

The officials also emphasised the importance of realising the stipulated quantity of water for environmental and drinking water purposes in Tamil Nadu. On hearing the Tamil Nadu officials, the CWMA directed the Karnataka government to release 2.5 tmcft of water for May as per the Supreme Court verdict.

However, Karnataka said that they were not in a position to release Cauvery water due to the water crisis in their State. Karnataka said the water available in four designated Cauvery water storage dams is at the lowest and it is just sufficient to meet the critical water requirements for drinking and industrial use.

“Karnataka will not be in a position to assure any flow from its storage other than what may be realised at Biligundlu from its immediate catchment areas,” Karnataka said in its submission.