UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — T.N. moves SC to press for release of Cauvery water

Q1. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's final order apportioned the utilisable flow of the river among the basin States and the Union Territory. Consider the following pairs of party and quantum apportioned under that final order, as it stood before it was modified by the Supreme Court: 1. Karnataka — 270 tmc ft 2. Tamil Nadu — 419 tmc ft 3. Kerala — 7 tmc ft 4. Puducherry — 30 tmc ft Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Karnataka — 270 tmc ft
  2. Tamil Nadu — 419 tmc ft
  3. Kerala — 7 tmc ft
  4. Puducherry — 30 tmc ft
  • A. 1 and 2
  • B. 2 and 3
  • C. 1, 3 and 4
  • D. 2 and 4

Q2. Consider the following statements comparing the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's final order with the Supreme Court's February 2018 judgment on it: 1. The judgment enhanced Karnataka's share by 14.75 tmc ft and reduced Tamil Nadu's share by the same quantum, while leaving the shares of Kerala and Puducherry untouched. 2. The enhancement to Karnataka rested partly on the Tribunal's failure to reckon groundwater lying below the Cauvery basin in Tamil Nadu, of which up to 10 tmc ft was taken into account. 3. The judgment curtailed the operative life of the award from fifteen years to five years, at the end of which a fresh tribunal was to be constituted to re-apportion the flows. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The judgment enhanced Karnataka's share by 14.75 tmc ft and reduced Tamil Nadu's share by the same quantum, while leaving the shares of Kerala and Puducherry untouched.
  2. The enhancement to Karnataka rested partly on the Tribunal's failure to reckon groundwater lying below the Cauvery basin in Tamil Nadu, of which up to 10 tmc ft was taken into account.
  3. The judgment curtailed the operative life of the award from fifteen years to five years, at the end of which a fresh tribunal was to be constituted to re-apportion the flows.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q3. Under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 as amended in 2019, what is the first step the Central Government is required to take upon receiving a request from a State for adjudication of a water dispute?

  • A. Refer the dispute to the Inter-State River Water Disputes Tribunal, which must be done within one year of the request being received
  • B. Constitute a bench of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Tribunal presided over by its Vice-Chairperson to hear the matter
  • C. Constitute a Disputes Resolution Committee to attempt an amicable settlement of the dispute through negotiations
  • D. Authorise an agency to maintain a river basin data bank for the river in question and place the dispute before it

Q4. Consider the following statements regarding the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 as it stood before the 2019 amendment and as it stands after it: 1. The amendment brought down the outer limit for a Tribunal to render its decision from five years to three years, and requires that decision to be published in the official Gazette before it becomes binding on the party States. 2. Under the Act as it stood before the amendment, the Central Government was required to constitute a Tribunal within one year of receiving a State's complaint. 3. The amendment provides for a single Tribunal that may sit in multiple benches, upon whose establishment the existing Tribunals stand dissolved and the disputes pending before them are transferred to it. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The amendment brought down the outer limit for a Tribunal to render its decision from five years to three years, and requires that decision to be published in the official Gazette before it becomes binding on the party States.
  2. Under the Act as it stood before the amendment, the Central Government was required to constitute a Tribunal within one year of receiving a State's complaint.
  3. The amendment provides for a single Tribunal that may sit in multiple benches, upon whose establishment the existing Tribunals stand dissolved and the disputes pending before them are transferred to it.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q5. Under the Cauvery Water Management Scheme, 2018, consider the following as part-time members of the Cauvery Water Management Authority: 1. A representative of the Union Ministry of Water Resources 2. A representative of the Union Ministry of Agriculture 3. One representative each of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry 4. A representative of the India Meteorological Department Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. A representative of the Union Ministry of Water Resources
  2. A representative of the Union Ministry of Agriculture
  3. One representative each of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry
  4. A representative of the India Meteorological Department
  • A. 1 and 4
  • B. 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 1, 2 and 4
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q6. Under the Cauvery Water Management Scheme, 2018, how many members, apart from the Chairman, constitute the Cauvery Water Management Authority?

  • A. Six
  • B. Seven
  • C. Eight
  • D. Nine

Q7. Which one of the following statements about the spread of the Cauvery basin across the political units it drains is correct?

  • A. It is spread over three States and one Union Territory, and the largest share of its area by far lies in Tamil Nadu
  • B. It lies wholly within Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Kerala contributing run-off to the river but no part of its catchment area
  • C. It is spread over three States and one Union Territory, and Karnataka alone accounts for more than half of its total area
  • D. It is spread over four States, of which Puducherry accounts for a larger area of the basin than Kerala does

Q8. Consider the following statements about the course of the Cauvery across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu: 1. The river rises at Talakaveri in the Kodagu district of Karnataka, whereas the Stanley Reservoir, into which it flows further downstream, lies at Mettur in Tamil Nadu. 2. Biligundlu, the site at which the inter-State flow of the Cauvery into Tamil Nadu is gauged for compliance purposes, lies in Salem district. 3. Of the total area of the Cauvery basin, the share lying in Tamil Nadu exceeds that lying in Karnataka, and the share lying in Kerala exceeds that lying in Puducherry. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The river rises at Talakaveri in the Kodagu district of Karnataka, whereas the Stanley Reservoir, into which it flows further downstream, lies at Mettur in Tamil Nadu.
  2. Biligundlu, the site at which the inter-State flow of the Cauvery into Tamil Nadu is gauged for compliance purposes, lies in Salem district.
  3. Of the total area of the Cauvery basin, the share lying in Tamil Nadu exceeds that lying in Karnataka, and the share lying in Kerala exceeds that lying in Puducherry.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q9. In August 2026, Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court complaining of non-implementation of a direction that 3,500 cusecs be realised at Biligundlu for fifteen days. Which body issued that direction, which the Cauvery Water Management Authority thereafter affirmed?

  • A. The Central Water Commission, the technical organisation of the Union Government that monitors reservoir storage
  • B. The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee, the body that collects daily water data from the reservoirs in the basin
  • C. The National Water Development Agency, which undertakes basin-wise studies of surplus and deficit river basins
  • D. The Cauvery River Authority, the body headed by the Prime Minister with the basin Chief Ministers as members

Q10. Consider the following as features of the 1924 agreement on the Cauvery between the Madras Presidency and the princely State of Mysore: 1. It permitted Mysore to build a dam at Kannambadi village impounding 44.8 thousand million cubic feet of water. 2. It provided that the arrangement would be open to review at the end of fifty years. 3. In its implementation it confined Mysore's irrigation to about 3.01 lakh acres. 4. It confined Madras to about 1.10 lakh acres of irrigation, a limit Madras stayed within until the agreement ran its course. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. It permitted Mysore to build a dam at Kannambadi village impounding 44.8 thousand million cubic feet of water.
  2. It provided that the arrangement would be open to review at the end of fifty years.
  3. In its implementation it confined Mysore's irrigation to about 3.01 lakh acres.
  4. It confined Madras to about 1.10 lakh acres of irrigation, a limit Madras stayed within until the agreement ran its course.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4
  • C. 1 and 4
  • D. 2, 3 and 4

Q11. Which one of the following statements about the tribunals constituted for inter-State river water disputes in India is correct?

  • A. The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II was constituted in 2004 under Section 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, on requests made by the party States
  • B. Every inter-State river water dispute must be placed before a tribunal by the Centre, since a negotiated settlement between the party States is barred by the statute
  • C. The Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal, constituted in 2018, is the only such tribunal whose award has been made binding on the parties without any Gazette publication
  • D. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, wound up in 2018, is the sole tribunal ever to have been dissolved in the history of the 1956 Act

Q12. Consider the following as features of the institutional arrangement through which the Supreme Court-modified Cauvery award is enforced: 1. The Authority and the Committee that enforce the award were brought into being by a scheme framed by the Union Government, and not by the Supreme Court itself. 2. The Committee works under the direction of the Authority and gathers daily water data from the reservoirs in the basin. 3. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal continues in existence alongside the Authority, monitoring compliance by the party States. 4. Regulating the release of water by Karnataka at the inter-State contact point with Tamil Nadu is among the functions of the Authority. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. The Authority and the Committee that enforce the award were brought into being by a scheme framed by the Union Government, and not by the Supreme Court itself.
  2. The Committee works under the direction of the Authority and gathers daily water data from the reservoirs in the basin.
  3. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal continues in existence alongside the Authority, monitoring compliance by the party States.
  4. Regulating the release of water by Karnataka at the inter-State contact point with Tamil Nadu is among the functions of the Authority.
  • A. 1 and 3
  • B. 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 1, 2 and 4
  • D. 1 and 2 only