Delay in notifying Krishna award big blow to Karnataka, Supreme Court told

The utilisation of water of 75 tmc feet requires advance preparation, which is why an early hearing was needed

Karnataka on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that it has already invested Rs 13,321 crore for infrastructure to utilise its share of water in Krishna river basin area and any delay in publication of final award of the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal final award would be a major blow to the state as its infrastructure will deteriorate.

"Karnataka has developed infrastructure at the cost of Rs 13,321 crore and is in a position to utilise 75 tmc feet of water out of 130 tmc feet allocated to Upper Krishna Project by the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal-II for irrigating 60 per cent of the planned 5.94 lakh hectares. If the water is not used, the infrastructure may deteriorate on account of various reasons including siltation, and weed growth," Senior advocate Shyam Diwan argued on behalf of Karnataka.

A bench of Justices Suryakant and V Ramasubramanian started hearing Karnataka's plea for a direction to the Jal Shakti Ministry to issue notification of the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal final award.

The utilisation of water of 75 tmc feet requires advance preparation, which may take a minimum of three to four months on the ground. Hence, an early hearing and decision on the plea of Karnataka for publication of the award are necessary, the state informed.

The farmers in the region are eagerly waiting for the release of water. These areas lie in the chronically drought-stricken area of the Deccan belt. The entire command area is admittedly drought-prone and out of 7 districts of the Command Area, four districts-Kalburgi, Yadgir, Raichur and Koppal are in special need of economic upliftment, the counsel argued.

The Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal passed its final award in November 2013.

In the Cauvery Water Dispute, despite the petitions pending questioning the allocation made by the Tribunal, the Supreme Court has allowed the Jal Shakti Ministry to issue notification of the final award. Since the same situation arises in the Krishna water dispute now, the Supreme Court should issue directions to the Jal Shakti Ministry to notify the Krishna Water Dispute Final award at the earliest, Karnataka counsel pleaded.

Karnataka advocate argued for over one hour. Arguments are likely to continue on Wednesday also.