Pennaiyar dispute: T.N. welcomes SC direction, hopes Centre will form tribunal for sharing water with Karnataka

Welcoming the Supreme Court’s direction to the Union government to constitute a tribunal to adjudicate the dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the sharing of water from the Pennaiyar, Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan said on Monday that the people of Tamil Nadu expected the Union government to implement the direction. The State government will take up all necessary measures to get water from the Pennaiyar and the Markandeya, he said.

“I expect the Union government to fulfil the expectations of the people of Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government will undertake all necessary steps and protect the interests of the people depending on these two rivers,” Mr. Duraimurugan said in a statement.

Since the Pennaiyar and the Markandeya fall under the Madras-Mysore Agreement of 1892, the Karnataka government “needed to obtain Tamil Nadu’s concurrence if it intended to make constructions across them,” Mr. Duraimurugan underlined. The Tamil Nadu government filed a suit and an interlocutory application before the Supreme Court against Karnataka, which had undertaken works for the construction of a dam. On November 14, 2019, the Supreme Court granted liberty to Tamil Nadu to make an appropriate application to the Union government for the constitution of a tribunal for the adjudication of the Pennaiyar water dispute.

However, the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti had in January 2020 set up a Negotiation Committee, and eventually on July 31, 2020, it submitted a final report in favour of the constitution of the tribunal. “However, the Union government delayed the tribunal’s constitution,” the Minister said.

Mr. Duraimurugan recalled meeting the Union Minister of Jal Shakti on July 6, 2021, reiterating Tamil Nadu’s demand for a tribunal. After several rounds of attempts, a Second Negotiation Committee was constituted, which eventually submitted its final report.

The Tamil Nadu government requested for immediate action for submitting a report to the Supreme Court regarding the Second Pennaiyar Negotiation Committee’s outcome so as to pave the way for the constitution of a tribunal for the resolution of the Pennaiyar dispute without any further delay. It followed up the case, and on February 2, the Supreme Court directed the Union government to constitute a tribunal within a month to adjudicate the dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the sharing of Pennaiyar river water.