UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — SC to hear Tamil Nadu’s plea on Cauvery dispute this week

Question 1

With reference to the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, which one of the following statements is correct?

Accepted Answer

Section 11 bars the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and other courts in respect of any water dispute referred to a Tribunal under the Act.

Answer

Section 4 obliges the Central Government to constitute a Tribunal within one year of receiving any complaint from a State Government, irrespective of whether negotiation is possible.

Answer

Section 3 permits any riparian State to refer a water dispute directly to a Water Disputes Tribunal without recourse to the Central Government.

Answer

Section 6A empowers a Water Disputes Tribunal to frame its own scheme for implementing its decision, binding on all riparian States.

Question 2

With reference to the constitutional and statutory framework governing inter-State river water disputes in India, consider the following statements:
1. Article 262 empowers Parliament to provide by law that neither the Supreme Court nor any other court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of a dispute relating to the waters of an inter-State river.
2. Under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, a State Government seeking adjudication must make a request to the Central Government rather than move a Tribunal directly.
3. The Ravi and Beas Waters Tribunal owes its constitution to a provision contained in the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 itself.
4. The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which provided for a single Tribunal with multiple Benches and for a Disputes Resolution Committee, has since been enacted and is in force.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?

Accepted Answer

4 only

Answer

1 only

Answer

3 and 4

Answer

2 and 3

Question 3

Which one of the following correctly describes the relationship between the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC)?

Accepted Answer

The CWRC functions under the CWMA, monitoring reservoir inflows and outflows and making recommendations that the Authority may affirm or modify.

Answer

They are co-equal bodies, and a direction issued by either becomes operative only upon ratification by the other.

Answer

The CWMA functions under the CWRC, which is chaired by the Union Minister of Jal Shakti and takes the final decision on releases.

Answer

The CWRC is a Bench of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, whose orders lie in appeal to the CWMA on questions of law alone.

Question 4

The 'Cauvery Water Management Scheme', notified in June 2018, is best described as which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

A Central Government scheme to give effect to the Tribunal's decision as modified by the Supreme Court, under which the CWMA and CWRC were constituted.

Answer

A centrally sponsored irrigation programme funding modernisation of every canal system in the Cauvery basin across all four riparian units.

Answer

An instrument declaring the entire Cauvery basin a national waterway and placing it permanently under the Central Water Commission.

Answer

An agreement between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu superseding the 1892 and 1924 accords and requiring unanimous consent for all releases.

Question 5

The final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was published in the Gazette of India in February 2013 by which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

The Union Ministry of Water Resources, acting pursuant to a direction of the Supreme Court

Answer

The Central Water Commission, the technical organisation dealing with inter-State river flows

Answer

The Cauvery River Authority, then functioning under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister

Answer

The Ministry of Law and Justice, acting on a reference received from the Tribunal

Question 6

Consider the following statements comparing the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's award with its modification by the Supreme Court:
1. The Tribunal delivered its final award in February 2007, but the award was published in the Gazette of India only in 2013.
2. The Supreme Court's judgment of February 2018 enhanced Karnataka's share by 14.75 TMC ft and reduced Tamil Nadu's share by the same quantum.
3. The Supreme Court's 2018 judgment also revised upwards the shares that the Tribunal had allotted to Kerala and Puducherry.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Accepted Answer

1 and 2 only

Answer

1 only

Answer

2 and 3 only

Answer

1, 2 and 3

Question 7

In the context of Cauvery water releases, Biligundlu is best described as which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

The inter-State gauging site at which flows realised by Tamil Nadu are measured.

Answer

The reservoir in Tamil Nadu whose storage alone governs the entire Kuruvai crop calendar of the delta districts.

Answer

The dam in Karnataka's Mandya district from which all releases to Tamil Nadu under CWMA orders are made.

Answer

The confluence of the Kabini with the Cauvery, treated as the sole basis for computing the entire annual yield of the basin.

Question 8

Consider the following identifications relating to the Cauvery basin:
1. Krishnaraja Sagar — a reservoir on the Cauvery in Karnataka
2. Stanley Reservoir — the reservoir impounded by the Mettur dam in Tamil Nadu
3. Talakaveri — the source of the Cauvery, situated in the Brahmagiri range in Kodagu district
4. Bhavani — a tributary that joins the Cauvery within Karnataka, upstream of Mettur
Which of the above are correctly identified?

Accepted Answer

1, 2 and 3 only

Answer

1 and 3 only

Answer

2 and 4 only

Answer

1, 2, 3 and 4

Question 9

The direction requiring Karnataka to ensure 3,500 cusecs per day at Biligundlu for 15 days, whose enforcement Tamil Nadu sought from the Supreme Court in August 2026, originated with which authority?

Accepted Answer

The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee, whose direction of 28 July 2026 was affirmed by the CWMA on 30 July 2026

Answer

The Cauvery Water Management Authority, acting suo motu following the dissolution of the Tribunal in July 2018

Answer

The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, in its final award of 2007 as modified by the Supreme Court in 2018

Answer

The Central Water Commission, through inter-State gauging directions issued to the four basin units

Question 10

With reference to the reliefs sought by Tamil Nadu in its August 2026 application to the Supreme Court in the Cauvery matter, consider the following statements:
1. It sought a direction to Karnataka to ensure a flow of 3,500 cusecs per day at Biligundlu for 15 days.
2. It sought to make good an accumulated backlog of about 9.46 TMC ft that had built up at Biligundlu.
3. It claimed about 26.954 TMC ft as its proportionate share on the basis of rainfall realised in the catchment.
4. It sought the dissolution of the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the constitution of a fresh Tribunal under the 1956 Act.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?

Accepted Answer

4 only

Answer

1 and 2

Answer

2 and 3

Answer

1, 2 and 3

Question 11

Consider the following statements comparing the releases directed in July 2026 with the position actually obtaining in the Cauvery basin:
1. Karnataka gave full effect to the CWMA's order of 30 July 2026, and the shortfall recorded downstream was attributable to transmission losses in the river reach.
2. As against the 3,500 cusecs per day directed from 29 July 2026, the flow realised at Biligundlu between 29 July and 2 August 2026 remained in the range of about 158 to 550 cusecs.
3. As on 3 August 2026, the combined storage in Karnataka's four Cauvery basin reservoirs — Krishnaraja Sagar, Kabini, Harangi and Hemavathy — was of the order of 77.5 TMC ft.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Accepted Answer

2 and 3 only

Answer

1 only

Answer

1 and 2 only

Answer

1, 2 and 3

Question 12

Consider the following statements about inter-State river water disputes tribunals constituted under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956:
1. The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal adjudicates a dispute among Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
2. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted in 1990, whereas the Ravi and Beas Waters Tribunal had been constituted earlier, in 1986.
3. The Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal, constituted in 2018, concerns Odisha and Chhattisgarh, while the Vansadhara Water Disputes Tribunal concerns Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Accepted Answer

2 and 3 only

Answer

1 and 2 only

Answer

1 only

Answer

1, 2 and 3

UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — SC to hear Tamil Nadu’s plea on Cauvery dispute this week

Q1. With reference to the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, which one of the following statements is correct?

Q3. Which one of the following correctly describes the relationship between the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC)?

Q4. The 'Cauvery Water Management Scheme', notified in June 2018, is best described as which one of the following?

Q5. The final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was published in the Gazette of India in February 2013 by which one of the following?

Q7. In the context of Cauvery water releases, Biligundlu is best described as which one of the following?

Q9. The direction requiring Karnataka to ensure 3,500 cusecs per day at Biligundlu for 15 days, whose enforcement Tamil Nadu sought from the Supreme Court in August 2026, originated with which authority?