All-party meet on Mahadayi convened on Saturday

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has convened an all-party meeting to discuss the latest developments pertaining to the Mahadayi river water row, which has gone before the court again.

The meeting is scheduled to be held on November 17 at the chief minister’s home office, Krishna, at 5 pm.

The government had, on Monday, filed a fresh plea in the Supreme Court, challenging the validity of the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal’s (MWDT) decision, which limited the allocation of drinking water to 5.5 tmc to the state and allowed surplus water to flow into the sea.

In a special leave petition filed in the Supreme Court, the government demanded 36.5 tmc ft of water from Mahadayi basin as against the award (13.5 tmc ft) given by the Tribunal on August 14.

The government has contended that the MWDT order was contrary to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Cauvery water dispute, which mandated determination of equitable shares among riparian states in a river water dispute.

In addition to this, Karnataka has filed a representation before the MWDT, seeking its clarification and explanation, under Section 5(3) of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, on its award.

According to government sources, the all-party meeting had been deferred owing to the enforcement of the model code of conduct for the recently concluded bypolls.

“Karnataka had filed the SLP before the SC and the representation before the Tribunal in pursuance of the opinion given by senior counsel Fali Nariman. The chief minister has convened the all-party meeting to convey the action taken in this regard,” said an official.