No Water Released to Goa; Media Should Remain Cautious on Water Issue: Minister MB Patil

Bengaluru: Karnataka State Minister for Water Resources MB Patil said, no water is being released to Goa from River Mahadayi and the government hasn’t yet released water to Goa from the river as reported by the media. As of now, according to the Apex Court order, water flows from Kalasa-Banduri tunnel to Mahadayi, minister said speaking to media persons here in Bengaluru on Monday.

Mahadayi issue is very sensitive and people in four districts have been fighting for water for a long time. Therefore, the media should remain cautious before airing the reports on water issue of the region, minister cautioned journalists in the wake of some media reports which stated the state government released water to Goa recently amid severe water shortage in Karnataka.

Speaking on the present water storage level in the state, the minister said ,water storage in the reservoirs of Cauvery basin including Harangi, Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS), Kabini and Hemavati has reached only 26 TMC in the second week of July, 2017 against 57 TMC recorded in July 2016. As per the Apex Court order, only 2.4 TMC water has been released from KRS to Tamil Nadu from June 2017 to till now, the minister noted.