Cauvery river dispute verdict: SC does a balancing act, reads letter to BS

With some give and take and small doses of altruism, we can reach amicable settlements in even the most intractable disputes

Unlike the judicial verdicts in the past, the latest Supreme Court verdict on Cauvery water sharing did not give rise to strong emotions and protests. It was clearly not displeasing to the parties to the long-drawn-out dispute. Tamil Nadu did not seem greatly perturbed at the reduction in the quantum of water allocated to it from 419 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) to 404.25 tmcft. It is being seen as a minor tweak and not as a significant deviation from Cauvery Dispute Tribunal award. It was satisfied with being allowed to extract groundwater from the river basin and appreciated that