CM convenes meeting on Krishna water

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has convened a meeting of the floor leaders of both Houses of the State Legislature in Bangalore on Wednesday to discuss the award of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal II.

The Tribunal had recently given its nod for increasing the height of the Alamatti dam to 524 metres, thereby allowing the State to utilise 130 tmc ft of additional water.

Andhra Pradesh had moved the Supreme Court seeking an interim stay of the award.
Speaking to reporters in Bangalore on Tuesday, Law Minister T B Jayachandra said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Water Resources Minister M B Patil and himself would hold discussions with senior counsel Fali Nariman in New Delhi on January 9 on the State’s stand on Cauvery water sharing, the Krishna water dispute and the contents of the interim application to be filed before the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal.

On the same day, in Bangalore, a Cabinet committee will meet to finalise the State’s view on a notification of the Ministry of Environment and Forests that proposes to declare 37 per cent of the Western Ghats ecologically sensitive areas.

The notification seeks to ban mining, quarrying, thermal power plants and red-category industries in these zones.

It is based on the report of a high-level working group headed by Planning Commission member K Kasturirangan, constituted by the ministry to study and make recommendations on how to protect, preserve the rich biodiversity and environmental integrity of the Western Ghats. The other members of the Cabinet committee are Ramanath Rai, Kimmane Ratnakar, Prakash Hukkeri, Mahadeva Prasad and Vinay Kumar Sorake.