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Cauvery verdict LIVE: Supreme Court awards additional 14.75 tmc to Karnataka , CJI says no state has monopoly over water
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had approached the Supreme Court to challenge the 2007 Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal award. Here are the live updates on the SC verdict: 

The Supreme Court on Friday delivered its verdict on the decades-old Cauvery water dispute, increasing Karnataka’s share by 14.75 tmc and directing the state to release 177.25 tmc water to Tamil Nadu from its inter-state Biligundlu dam.

A view of the Krishnarajasagar Dam in Mysuru. The Supreme Court had passed several orders directing Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.(PTI File Photo)

The decades-old Cauvery water dispute was decided unanimously by CWDT in 2007, after determining the total availability of water in the Cauvery basin at 740 thousand million cubic feet at the Lower Coleroon Anicut site, including 14 tmcft for environmental protection.

The tribunal’s award made a yearly allocation of 419 tmcft to Tamil Nadu in the entire Cauvery basin, 270 tmcft to Karnataka, 30 tmcft to Kerala and 7 tmcft to Puducherry.

Security has been tightened in Bengaluru, with the state deploying 15,000 police personnel ahead of the verdict on Friday.

Here are the live updates: 

11:08am: TV reports quote the Tamil Nadu government as saying it will study the apex court’s judgment.

11:06am: Tamil Nadu will now get 404.25 tmc of Cauvery water instead of 419 tmc allotted by tribunal. However, the court allowed Tami Nadu to draw additional 10 tmc groundwater from a total of 20 tmcft beneath Cauvery basin.

11:05am: SC made it clear that increase in share of Cauvery water for Karnataka by 14.75 TMC has been done keeping in view the fact that there is an increased demand of drinking water by Bengaluru and also for many industrial activities: ANI

11:01am: CJI Dipak Misra said while delivering the order, “Water is a national asset and no state can have a monopoly over it.”

11am: SC says 2007 tribunal award of 30 tmc to Kerala and 7 tmc to Puducherry to remain unchanged.

10:59am: Bengaluru to get 4 tmc more to meet drinking water needs of the city.

Read: Cape Town will be the first modern city to run out of drinking water. Bengaluru isn’t far behind

10:55am: Supreme Court says that 20 tmc of ground water in Tamil Nadu had not been accounted for: ANI

10:50am: Allocation of area of irrigation for Tamil Nadu by the tribunal is correct. The Tribunal did not consider the ground water availability in Tamil Nadu in Cauvery basin. Allocation of drinking water to Karnataka is increased by 14.75 tmc: Supreme Court  

10:45am: Karnataka gets additional 14.75 tmc and the state will have to release 177.25 tmc to Tamil Nadu. The total allocation for Karnataka is now 284.75 tmc.

10:40am: The Bench of three judges comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Amitava Roy and AM Khanwilkar will pronounce the judgment soon. 

9:50am: CM (Tamil Nadu) tried to speak to Karnataka CM on the issue but Siddaramaiah didn’t respond to it. No due water has been released to Tamil Nadu because of which crops in 5,000 acres of land are dying. We believe justice should be done: PR Pandian, of Tamil Nadu farmers association

9:30am: Commuters in Hosur say that the number of buses plying to Karnataka has been reduced ahead of the Supreme Court verdict, reports ANI.

• Tamil Nadu hopes SC will save the delta from turning into a desert, Karnataka wants it to correct what it sees as a wrong award by the tribunal on river water sharing in 2007. It believes that award perpetuated the injustice meted out to Karnataka (the erstwhile Mysore state) during the British rule.

But both states are also preparing for the worst — in view of the violence which marked events related to the sharing of Cauvery water in the past, the two states are strengthening security near their borders.