No legal hurdle in lifting water from Mahadayi river: Karnataka state counsel Katarki

Senior Supreme Court advocate and member of Karnataka legal team in the river water dispute, Mohan V Katarki, said there is no legal impediment in the lifting of water from Kalasa and Bandura (Banduri) streams to implement the Mahadayi project.

Speaking at a workshop organised by Mahadayi Raithapara Horata Samithi at Karnatak Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Sunday, he said lifting of water from an 11 metres high reservoir to draw 3.5 tmcft of drinking water and fill the Malaprabha river through canals is the best option available with Karnataka now, as it not only reduces the cost of the project by Rs 600 crore but also reduces the destruction of forest land from 587 hectares to just 50 hectares.

"As the requirement of forest land for the project has reduced to just 50 hectares, the State Wildlife Board itself can approve it and there is no need for the state to get a forest clearance certificate from Central government agencies," he said. However, the senior advocate did not clarify if approval from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is not required for the amended detailed project report, as the forest land is part of the tiger habitat.

Goa may raise objections to the lift project, but the state has a good case to defend it and get a favourable verdict.

"Only 42 per cent of the lift irrigation projects in India have succeeded so far. So, the engineers and the government has to make sure that they use best of technology to lift the water and also make sure that the heavy motor pumps get round the clock power supply," he said and added that getting a judgement in favour of inter-basin water project is difficult, so the government should not waste time and implement the lift project immediately. "If the project fails, we can very well revert back to the old plan," he said.

Katarki said the state is pursuing it separately in the Supreme Court to get the verdict in favour of drawing additional 7 tcmft of water from the surplus 183 tmcft of water available in the Mahadayi river for irrigation purpose.

Former MLA N H Konaraddi said the state government should not have reduced the height of the reservoir from 28 mtrs to 11 mtrs and instead of the lifting of water, they should rely on gravitation force to draw water.