Prepare draft petition on Mahadayi: Nariman

The head of Karnataka’s legal team for water disputes, Fali S Nariman, on Monday asked the State government to prepare a draft petition stating the grounds on which the State can approach the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal seeking interim relief.

During a meeting with the all-party delegation from Karnataka led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here, Nariman is learnt to have said that he would take a decision on seeking interim relief only after studying the draft petition, sources told Deccan Herald. 

“Filing a petition is not an issue, instead we should think about its maintainability in the tribunal,” he reportedly advised. It is learnt that he also cautioned the State government to take decisions carefully as it is an inter-state water dispute.

With the on-going protests in North Karnataka demanding early implementation of Kalasa-Banduri irrigation project by diverting water from the Mahadayi river, there is a pressure on the Karnataka government to file a petition before the tribunal seeking interim award.

The state wanted to seek interim relief from the tribunal to enable it to draw some water from the Mahadayi to meet drinking water needs of parts of north Karnataka region.

The delegation, also comprising Law Minister T B Jayachandra, Rural Development Minister H K Patil, Water Resources Minister M B Patil, Mining Minister Vinay Kulkarni, Opposition Leader in Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar and former water resources minister Basavaraj Bommai,  requested the legal team to advise the State government on filing petition before the tribunal.

The leaders tried to prevail upon the legal team about urgency in filing the petition due to severe drought and on-going protests.

Emerging out of the meeting, Siddaramaiah told reporters that the State government will prepare a draft petition immediately. Final decision will be based on legal team’s advice, he added.