State of Tamil Nadu on Monday told the Supreme Court that it will raise before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) its grievance that it is not receiving its proportionate share of Cauvery water, following which the Court posted its plea seeking release of water for hearing on next Monday.

A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta was hearing Tamil Nadu's plea seeking implementation of the CWMA's directions requiring Karnataka to release water.

Senior Advocate CS Vaidyanathan for Tamil Nadu said that the State had received the water directed to be released by the CWMA as of Monday morning. He said there had been a deficit in the release on Sunday, but some water had reached Tamil Nadu by Monday.

However, Vaidyanathan submitted that Tamil Nadu's grievance is that the CWMA had not directed Karnataka to make up the deficit in the proportionate quantity of water that Tamil Nadu was required to receive.

“We have to receive proportionate share of water that unfortunately is not happening…We have as of this morning got the water which was directed to be released by the CWMA. It was deficit yesterday but today some water has come. My problem is CWMA is not giving direction to make up the proportionate quantity I must receive,” he submitted.

Referring to the establishment, powers, functions and duties of the CWMA, Vaidyanathan highlighted that the Authority is required to take stock of the actual yield in the Cauvery basin at the end of the previous time interval, as well as the utilisation of releases and storage built up during that interval. It is also required to assess the trend of inflows and authorise withdrawal for the subsequent time interval accordingly.

Justice Vikram Nath recalled that Senior Advocate Shyam Divan for Karnataka had handed over a chart at the previous hearing setting out the details of water released till that date. On that date, Divan had submitted that Karnataka had complied with the CWMA's directions.

Vaidyanathan submitted that the CWMA was meeting today and tomorrow, and Tamil Nadu would make a request before it. He asked the Court to keep the matter on Monday.

The bench indicated that, according to its understanding, there was no issue remaining as water had been released. Vaidyanathan, however, said that there was a substantial issue, pointing out that Karnataka had about 78 TMC of water in Cauvery reservoirs. It is Tamil Nadu's grievance that it is not getting the proportionate share of water in the reservoirs.

The Court thereafter posted the matter for next Monday so that the parties can place an updated status of the water releases before it.

Tamil Nadu's grievance stems from continuing deficit in the water it claims to be entitled to receive. At the previous hearing, the State had submitted that it had received only 14 TMC against the 64 TMC it was entitled to under the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award. It had said that even after accounting for the deficit in flows during the current year, it should have received a proportionate 55.29%, leaving a backlog of about 20 TMC.

The CWMA on July 30 directed Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water for 15 days. Tamil Nadu approached the Supreme Court on August 3 seeking implementation of the decision and had sought release of 4.536 TMC, calculated at the rate of 3,500 cusecs per day for 15 days, on or before August 12.

The CWMA subsequently directed Karnataka to ensure a flow of 12,000 cusecs from August 12. At the previous hearing, Karnataka had acknowledged that the flow was around 6,000 cusecs during the first four to five days but said it expected to make up the shortfall. It later informed the Court that the flow had risen to 12,607 cusecs and that the reservoir gates had been opened.

Karnataka had disputed Tamil Nadu's allegation of non-compliance and said it was facing "extremely severe distress" in the Cauvery basin. It had also submitted that the CWMA had taken the distress situation into account while issuing its directions.

The Supreme Court on that day had directed Karnataka to comply with the CWMA directions and called for a status report from the Authority.

Today, Tamil Nadu reiterated its grievance, and submitted that the CWMA is not passing any order to make up deficits in its proportionate share.

Case: MA 2445/2026 in C.A. No. 2453/2007, Diary No. 46527/2026, State of Tamil Nadu v. State of Karnataka