The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to set up a tribunal to adjudicate the long-pending dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over sharing the waters of the Pennaiyar River. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and N V Anjaria asked the Central government to issue a notification and constitute the water disputes tribunal within one month.
Justice Nath said there was no reason to delay the formation of a tribunal for resolving the inter-state water dispute between the two states.
The case was filed by the Tamil Nadu government in 2018, challenging the construction of check dams and diversion works by Karnataka on the Pennaiyar River. Tamil Nadu argued that water in an inter-state river is a national asset and that no state can claim exclusive rights over it. The detailed judgment is awaited.
