The Central government can constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB), an instrumentality recommended by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) to ensure implementation of the 2007 final order, without having to obtain approval of Parliament, according to a veteran water expert here. A. Veerappan, secretary of the Tamil Nadu PWD Senior Engineers’ Association and former special chief engineer in the PWD, says the Inter-State Water Disputes Act is very clear to the effect that Parliament has vested in the Union government the power to frame schemes in respect of implementation of any water disputes tribunal’s decision. Besides, Parliament’s approval was not taken in the past when the Narmada Control Authority, which was formed in December 1980 to ensure implementation of final orders and decision of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT), was set up. On the issue of release of Cauvery water from Karnataka reservoirs, he says the quantum of rainfall and the quantum of water realised within Karnataka’s Cauvery basin should be taken into account and not the present storage of reservoirs in the neighbouring State. Mr. Veerappan also accuses the Karnataka government of having indulged in “illegal diversion” of the Cauvery river water through high-capacity pumps. On the issue of drinking water supply requirements of Karnataka, the expert says the CWDT, after examining it, had made specific provisions in its final award.