Pennaiyar River Dispute: Tribunal Ordered by Supreme Court
Why in the news
The Supreme Court asked the Union Government to set up a water disputes tribunal, within a month, to settle the Pennaiyar row between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Key facts
- Court order: constitute an a river water disputes tribunal for states, to be formed in one month.
- Parties: Tamil Nadu versus Karnataka.
- Tamil Nadu’s suit relied on Article 131 and the 1956 Act governing such river disputes.
- Origin: Nandi Hills, Chikkaballapura district, Karnataka.
- Riparian position: Karnataka is upper, Tamil Nadu is lower.
About the river
- A southern river that runs eastward and crosses state borders.
- Other names: Thenpennai or Ponnaiyar in Tamil, Dakshina Pinakini in Kannada.
- Important for irrigation, industry and drinking water, particularly in Tamil Nadu.
- Listed as part of the Eastern Ghats river system, so it is not a Western Ghats river.
Exam angle
- Constitutional provision used for the suit: Article 131.
- Alternate name in Kannada: Dakshina Pinakini.
- Direction of flow: east; origin: Nandi Hills.