BSY hails Centre for notification on river water share

Bengaluru: Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday hailed the Centre for issuing a gazette notification permitting the state to draw 13.42 TMC of water from the Mahadayi river which has been a bone of contention between Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.

The notification was issued on Thursday, in accordance with the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunals order on August 14, 2018, allocating 13.42 TMC of water to the state. The notification came a week after the Supreme Court passed an interim order allowing the application filed by Karnataka in which it sought that the tribunal”s award be notified.

“The project has been pending for many years. Now, the 13.5 TMC of water will help minimise water scarcity in Hubballi-Dharwad and other regions. It will also help resolve the irrigation problem,” Yediyurappa told reporters here. The Chief Minister hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for paying heed to the long- pending demand of the people of Karnataka and issuing the notification.

“I assure the farmers of the region that we will allocate more funds for Karnataka in the forthcoming budget and start the work at the earliest to complete the Mahadayi project,” the Chief Minister said.

According to the gazette notification, of the 13.42 TMC of water, eight TMC is for power generation and rest for drinking and irrigation purposes. The demand of Karnataka for diversion of 5.527 TMC of water of Mahadayi river basin to the Supa reservoir of the Kali Hydro-Electric Power Project for generation of hydro- power is not found justified by the Tribunal, and is therefore, rejected, the notification read.

The issue had been a bone of contention between the three states of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.

Reacting to it, Karnataka Water Resource Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi welcomed the Centres gazette notification.

We will start the work soon. The detailed project report is already ready. It will be presented to the Mahadayi Tribunal to get the work approval. We have to get the approval of the court, forest and environment ministry, said Jarkiholi.

Speaking to reporters in Belagavi, he said the Mahadayi issue would come up before the court on Monday and till then people would have to wait and watch.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, who is an MP from Dharwad constituency, welcomed the gazette notification and extended his gratitude to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Water Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

Later, he met the Karnataka Chief Minister and appealed to him to make necessary allocation of funds in the forthcoming budget for the Mahadayi and Kalasa Bandoori project.