Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to instruct the Congress government in Karnataka to immediately release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu to address the shortfall.

In his letter, Stalin pointed out Karnataka was not honouring the Supreme Court’s order that had fixed the share of water to be delivered to Tamil Nadu at Billigundulu as per the monthly schedule and was not adhering to the directions of Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).

He said that in the 2023-2024 water year, Karnataka had released only 11.6 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water, as against 40.4 TMC due at Billigundulu from June 1 to July 31. “Such a huge shortfall of 28.8 TMC has been thrust on Tamil Nadu, even while Karnataka has a gross storage of 91 TMC in its four major reservoirs, against their full storage capacity of 114.6 TMC,” Stalin said.

“After provisioning for drinking water and other essential needs, the available water can support the standing Kuruvai crop for only 15 more days, whereas it needs water for another 45 days for maturity and optimum yield,” he added.

The CM said that water released by Karnataka to the Mettur dam is crucial for the cultivation of the Kuruvai crop and the sowing of the subsequent Samba crop as Tamil Nadu receives very little rainfall from the South West monsoon.

This letter came a fortnight after his earlier letter to Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.