Karnataka challenges Mahadayi tribunal order in apex court

Karnataka on Monday approached the Supreme Court challenging the Mahadayi  Water Disputes Tribunal's July 27 order rejecting its plea for lifting of up to seven tmcft of water from the Mahadayi river basin to the Malaprabha reservoir due to the acute drought situation in the Malaprabha command area.

In its special leave petition, Karnataka claimed that the tribunal “grossly erred” on wastage of water going to sea. “After holding that the plea of wastage may become relevant if surplus water is available, the tribunal ignored the basic fact that admittedly most of the water of 199.60 tmcft (75% dependability) of the Mahadayi goes to the sea as waste as the undisputed uses of Goa are only 9.395 tmcft and the proposed uses of Goa are 37.22 tmcft. And even the projected ultimate claims of Goa up to 2051 are 94.4 tmcft,” it maintained.

The state contended that the tribunal erred on clearances as, “contrary to the ex parte view of the Mahadayi Tribunal about obtaining clearances from the Central government, its stand was and is that inter state dispute be first resolved before asking for clearance in respect of the Kalasa Bhanduri projects for diversion of 7.56 tmcft from the Mahadayi to the Malaprabha.”

The state submitted that seven tmcft out of at least 108 tmcft of waters in the Mahadayi river have been and are being wasted for decades while Goa’s use of such waters being confined to only 9.395 tmcft. 

It also pointed out that the tribunal “erred in law” by observing that the natural equilibrium cannot be disturbed as the right to natural flows has been rejected in allocating inter-state waters in India and, USA in distributing international waters.
The petition listed Goa and Maharashtra as respondent parties.