New Delhi, Feb 7 (IANS): The Supreme Court Thursday directed Karnataka to release 2.44 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu for irrigating its standing crops in the delta basin.

The apex court bench headed by Justice R.M. Lodha said Karnataka would release the water forthwith. The court passed its order after receiving the report of the expert committee that had visited the Tamil Nadu part in the delta region and recommended that 2.44 tmc water be released for the standing crop.

Brushing aside Tamil Nadu's objections, the court said: "According to you, whatever you say should be accepted as gospel truth and the order be passed accordingly."

The court's strong observation came in the wake of Tamil Nadu objecting to the expert committee report and saying that it was not based on objective grounds.

Appearing for Tamil Nadu earlier this week, senior counsel C.S. Vaidvanathan sought nine TMC of water for the state's standing crops spread over six lakh hectares of land.

He said one-third of the crops spread over three lakh hectares of land had perished due to drought and the remaining crop in six lakh hectares area needed to be irrigated twice to save it.

Senior counsel Fali Nariman, appearing for Karnataka, contended that 40 percent of standing crops had been harvested and the rest was about to be harvested. Thus, Tamil Nadu needed no water for irrigation.