SC Gives Approval to Draft Cauvery Management Scheme

•  The Supreme Court has ordered the Central government to implement its draft Cauvery Management Scheme after finding it in consonance with its February 16 judgment.
• The court also found the draft scheme in conformity with Section 6A of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act.
• The Cauvery water management scheme will deal with the release of water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.
• It will be implemented by the Cauvery Management Authority (CMA). CMA will be the sole body to implement the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award as modified by the apex court. The Centre would have no say in it except for issuing administrative advisories to it.

About Inter-state River Dispute Act, 1956

• The act enables setting up of tribunals to settle disputes on Inter-State water or river when the Central government is of the view that the matter cannot be solved by negotiations.
• According to the act, decisions given by the tribunals so constituted will be final and binding and no appeal can lie in Supreme Court. Thus the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and other courts is clearly barred in such matters. However, the tribunal is only vested with decision making role, the implementation of such decision is not its outlook.
• Furthermore, tribunal’s responsibility is not limited only to adjudicate the matters but also investigation of matters which are of public importance like water pollution, flood control, sustainability of river basin productivity, climate change effects and others.
• Under the act, though Union government had set up many water tribunals like the Krishna Tribunal, the Narmada Tribunal, The Godavari Tribunal, the Cauvery Tribunal, The Ravi, Beas Tribunal etc.

By: Vishal