Supreme Court orders Centre to constitute Water Disputes Tribunal for Pennaiyar river sharing between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Key facts

• The Supreme Court directed the Central government to constitute a Water Disputes Tribunal within a month under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
• The dispute was brought by Tamil Nadu under Article 131 of the Constitution against Karnataka and the Union of India.
• Pennaiyar is an inter-State river flowing from Karnataka through Andhra Pradesh into Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
• Tamil Nadu alleged that Karnataka’s infrastructure projects on the Pennaiyar reduced downstream flow and harmed irrigation.
• Karnataka argued that the new state government formed after May 2023 Assembly elections had not been allowed fresh negotiations.
• The Centre informed the court that ministerial talks were proposed but Tamil Nadu refused to participate in certain meetings.
• In January 2024 the Supreme Court constituted a new negotiation committee with a one-year statutory negotiation limit.
• By November 2024 the court was informed that mediation between the two states had failed.