The Supreme Court has said that it will hear on September 10 the plea of Tamil Nadu seeking a direction to Karnataka for releasing 2TMC of water from Cauvery river as an interim measure.

The plea by the Tamil Nadu Government was made after the Centre told a bench comprising justices D K Jain and Madan Lokur that a meeting of Cauvery River Authority (CRA) headed by the Prime Minister will be held on September 19. The Bench on September 3 had pulled up the PMO officials for not holding a meeting of CRA to resolve the water-sharing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Centre to explain steps taken for convening meet in Supreme Court today

Even as the Supreme Court is to hear the Centre on Friday on fixing the date for the meeting of the Cauvery River Authority, the Tamil Nadu Government on Thursday made a fresh plea that Karnataka be directed to release 2 tmcft of water every day till the CRA meets. A Bench of Justices D.K. Jain and Madan B. Lokur will take up the case on Friday. Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval is expected to explain the steps taken by the PMO for convening the CRA.

Respecting Supreme Court’s observation, Central government should convene the Cauvery River Authority meeting soon and instruct Karnataka to release the due share of water to Tamil Nadu as per the

Residents of newly added BBMP areas asked to pay it along with BCC

Residents of areas newly added to BBMP limits are protesting against the BWSSB for collecting penalty along with the beneficiary capital contribution (BCC) from new consumers who had not paid their BCC charges. Special camps have been set up mainly in the newly added areas for the purpose and the Board has clearly mentioned in its application forms about BCC plus penalty.

The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Centre for not showing any interest in the Cauvery issue and wondered whether the Prime Minister’s Office was aware of its orders.

The Karnataka government on Monday maintained its earlier position that it had time till December to ensure adequate release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu at the inter State-border, Biligundlu.

In its rejoinder to Tamil Nadu’s reply in the Supreme Court, Karnataka, however, made it clear that it did not have any reservations on convening of the Cauvery River Authority by the Prime Minister, but wanted the meeting to be held at the end of September.

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed displeasure over the PMO officials' failure to hold a meeting of the committee, headed by the Prime Minister, to resolve the Cauvery water-sharing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

A bench of justices D.K. Jain and Madan B. Lokur expressed surprise when it was told that the meeting had not been held till now as the PMO officials had been seeking convenient dates from the committee members, which includes the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.

The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), which has received applications for opening 44 new sand quarries on the Cauvery-Coleroon river basin, is clueless about how to proceed further, in the absence of Central guidelines on such project proposals.

As a sequel to the August 3 order of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, the PWD had to secure approval of the SEIAA for setting up 44 sand quarries and running 21 existing quarries. Twenty-seven sand quarries over five years old were closed down.

The State Government has sought a detailed Action Taken Report (ATR) from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) on the pollution allegedly caused by various chemical industries to water bodies including River Cauvery, and villages and hamlets in and around Mettur.

In response to the Madras High Court’s direction, N. Thirumurthy, Deputy Secretary, Department of Environment and Forests, Government of Tamil Nadu asked the TNPCB Chairman to “send an action taken report on the complaints of pollution (due to chemical industries in and around Mettur) to Government immediately.”

‘Summer crop in Karnataka wholly unauthorised and not approved by Tribunal’

Tamil Nadu on Friday described as reprehensible and inhuman Karnataka’s stand that it will enjoy all water in the Cauvery basin during distress and use all surplus water even for summer irrigation in a surplus year, to the detriment and agony of the lower riparian State. In a rejoinder to Karnataka’s reply in the Supreme Court, Tamil Nadu said: “The surplus waters in a good year have to be stored for utilisation to take care of a distress year. The summer crop in Karnataka is completely unauthorised and not approved by the Tribunal.”