State to follow legal team's advice on Mahadayi row

An all-party meeting on Sunday decided to abide by the advice of the state’s legal team on Karnataka’s next course of action with regard to the Mahadayi dispute.

 The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal, last month, had rejected the state’s plea for an interim award seeking the diversion of 7.56 tmc ft of water from the Mahadayi river to improve drinking water supply to four districts of North Karnataka.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said senior counsel Fali S Nariman, who is heading the legal team, was studying the order. A final decision on the state’s stand will be taken after a meeting with the legal team on August 16, he said.
 
“There are two legal options before us. One is to file a clarificatory application before the tribunal under Section 5 (3) of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act. The other would be to file a special leave petition before the Supreme Court challenging the tribunal’s order,” Siddaramaiah said. 

The meeting was attended by floor leaders of the two Houses of the legislature Jagadish Shettar and K S Eshwarappa, Union Ministers D V Sadananda Gowda and Ramesh Jigajinagi, JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy, and members of Parliament and legislators from Bagalkot, Belagavi, Dharwad and Gadag districts, among others.

Siddaramaiah said the districts of Belagavi, Dharwad and Gadag were facing severe drought and groundwater has been  depleted. The Kalasa-Banduri project was the need of the hour to improve drinking water supply to these districts, he said.

The project involves building barrages across Kalasa and Banduri, two tributaries of the Mahadayi river, to divert 7.56 tmc ft of water to the Malaprabha river.

Cases under review

Siddaramaiah said senior police officer Raghavendra Auradkar was reviewing cases filed against agitators who had participated in protests following the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal order.

As many as 188 people were arrested during the protests. Based on Auradkar’s report, the state cabinet, scheduled to meet on Wednesday, will take a decision whether the charges could be dropped or not, he said. The Opposition felt that all parties need to take a united stand on the Mahadayi issue.

BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa said parties must come together to protect the interest of the state.

On his part, Kumaraswamy said the tribunal’s order had made it necessary for all parties to view the Mahadayi dispute with a fresh outlook.