Cauvery issue - Timeline
The Cauvery river water dispute, primarily between Tamil
Nadu and Karnataka, dates back to the 19th century. A chronology of the
riparian wrangle, compiled by T Arvind.
The agreement signed between Madras Presidency and the
princely State of Mysore in 1924 lapsed in 1974.
May 1990: Supreme Court directs Centre to constitute Cauvery
Water Dispute Tribunal, a demand made by Tamil Nadu since 1970.
June 2, 1990: Centre notifies Cauvery Water Disputes
Tribunal (CWDT).
January 1991: The CWDT rejects Tamil Nadu government's plea
for interim relief. TN appeals the rejection in Court.
April 1991: Supreme Court directs the CWDT to entertain TN's
petition for interim relief.
June 1991: The CWDT announced an interim award: Karnataka
ordered to release 205 tmcft. In a move to nullify the interim awards,
Karnataka government passes an Ordinance. Supreme Court intervenes, strikes
down Karnataka's ordinance and upholds the interim award of the CWDT. Karnataka
refuses to oblige.
December 11, 1991: The Interim award is published in the
Government of India gazatte.
July 1993: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa goes on a
sudden fast at the MGR memorial in Chennai demanding the Tamil Nadu's share of
water as stipulated by the interim order.
August 1998: Centre constitutes Cauvery River Authority to
ensure the implementation of the interim award of CWDT.
September 8, 2002: Cauvery River Authority chaired by Prime
Minister A.B. Vajpayee directs Karnataka to release 9,000 cusecs (0.8 tmcft) of
Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu unhappy with the order, says it will
move Supreme Court.
The Cauvery tangle
September 18, 2002: Protesting against the release of water
to Tamil Nadu, a Karnataka farmer jumps into the Kabini Reservoir, dies.
September 13, 2002: Congress MP from Tamil Nadu Mani Shankar
Aiyar blames the AIADMK for not raising the issue in Parliament.
September 15, 2002: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa
refutes Mani Shankar Aiyar's charges against her and issues a 9-page statement
on the Cauvery issue.
September 25, 2002: Karnataka farmers explain the distress
situation to the visiting Cauvery Monitoring Committee panel.
October 12, 2003: Water experts from the Centre express
their helplessness in coming to the rescue of Tamil Nadu in inter-State river
disputes; say their hands are tied. They are of the view that the Centre has
not been pro-active in ensuring effective functioning of the Cauvery River
Authority.
July 17, 2005: Karnataka refuses to implement the distress
sharing formula and rules out Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
April 13, 2006: After six-rounds of talks, farmers of
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu try to find a solution to the problem of water-sharing
between the riparian States.
Feb. 5, 2007: After 16 years, Cauvery Water Disputes
Tribunal gives final award. Tribunal holds as valid the two agreements of 1892
and 1924 executed between the Governments of Madras and Mysore on the
apportionment of water to Tamil Nadu.
Final Order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal
Feb. 12, 2007: Karnataka protests tribunal final award.
Observes State-wide bandh on the issue.
Feb. 18, 2007: Bangalore IT professionals protest against
the "biased" award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
March 18, 2007: Jayalalithaa undertakes a token fast in
Chennai demanding publication of the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes
Tribunal in the Official Gazette of the Centre.
June 30, 2008: Senior counsels of Karnataka on the Cauvery
dispute meet top officials of the State government.
July 28, 2010: Cauvery river rises owing to good rainfall in
the catchment areas in Kodagu district.
Dec 2, 2010: The Stanley reservoir, the lifeline of the
Cauvery delta, touches the full reservoir level (FRL) of 120 feet, bringing
cheers to water managers in Tamil Nadu.
A report in The Hindu says that between 1991 and 2011 -- in
20 years, Tamil Nadu realised less water on 13 occasions in June-September.
May 19, 2012: Jayalalithaa seeks immediate Cauvery River
Authority meet
Sept. 19, 2012: After nine years, at the seventh CRA,
Manmohan Singh directs Karnataka to release 9,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to
Tamil Nadu at Biligundlu. Both the CMs -- Jayalalithaa and Jagadish Shettar
term it "unacceptable". This is the first CRA meet since the UPA came
to power at the Centre in 2004.
Sept. 28, 2012: Supreme Court slams Karnataka government for
not complying with PM's direction at the CRA.
Feb. 29, 2013: Centre notifies the final award of the
Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT). The Central government was mandated to
constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) simultaneously with the gazette
notification of the final award of the Tribunal dated February 19.
March 10, 2013: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister says that she will
strive for formation of Cauvery Water Board during a felicitation ceremony
organised in Thanjavur for her efforts to get the final award notified in the
Union gazette.
March 19, 2013: Tamil Nadu moves Supreme Court to give
directions to Water Ministry for constitution of Cauvery Management Board.
May 1, 2013: The Election Commission directs the Union Water
Resources Ministry to defer constituting the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and
the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) till May 5 in view ot Karnataka
Assembly polls.
May 10, 2013: Supreme Court directs Centre to set up panel
to supervise Cauvery water release.
May 24, 2013: Centre notified temporary Cauvery Water
(Implementation of the Order of 2007) Scheme, 2013.
May 27, 2013: Cauvery issue will be resolved soon, says
Karnataka Law Minister.
May 28, 2013: Tamil Nadu moves Supreme Court, seeks Rs.
2,480-cr damages from Karnataka for not following orders of the Cauvery Water
Disputes Tribunal
June 1, 2013: Union Water Resources Secretary chairs the
first meeting of the Supervisory Committee which saw Tamil Nadu demanding its
share of water for June as stipulated in the award.
June 2, 2013: Water cannot be released as and when TN
demands, says Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
June 6, 2013: Karnataka says it cannot release 134 tmcft of
water to Tamil Nadu between June and September.
Keywords: Cauvery water dispute, Cauvery Management Board,
Cauvery Water Regulation Committee, Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, Tamil
Nadu-Karnataka relations, inter-state disputes, water sharing, water rights
