Yediyurappa urges Maha CM to release water for drought-hit north K'taka districts

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has urged his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray to release three TMC of water both from Koyna Dam and Ujjani reservoir in view of the acute drinking water crisis in the districts in northern Karnataka.

In his letter to Thackeray, the Karnataka Chief Minister said there is severe drinking water problem in Belagavi, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Raichur districts since the onset of summer in March.

Yediyurappa reminded Thackeray that the government of Maharashtra had been kind in the past to release water to meet the drinking water needs of both human beings and livestock during distress in drought-affected areas in Karnataka.

“I request you to kindly direct the authorities concerned to release three TMC of water from Warna/Koyna reservoirs to Krishna river and three TMC of water from Ujjani reservoir to Bhima river on humanitarian grounds for drinking purposes,” Yediyurappa said in the letter.

The Karnataka government on April 30 placed 49 Taluks in 18 districts in the state under drought-hit category due to no or low rains even during the monsoon last year.