India, Aug. 5 -- Every August, as the southwest monsoon falters, the Cauvery once again becomes less a river than a courtroom argument. This year is no different

Cauvery water disputes have become a perennial dispute. At the beginning of this month, Tamil Nadu pleaded before the Supreme Court that Karnataka is again withholding its share of the Cauvery's waters. CM Vijay's government told the court that Karnataka has ignored the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's July 28 order to release 3,500 cusecs a day at Biligundlu through August 12. A day earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had convened an all-party meeting in Bengaluru, uniting the Congress and the BJP behind a familiar plea: the state is in the grip of a poor monsoo...