Karnataka has requested the Centre to allocate water to each beneficiary state before taking up river linking projects.
In the meeting convened by Union Water Resources Secretary Pankaj Kumar to discuss the proposal for linking Godavari- Krishna, Krishna-Pennar, and Pennar-Cauvery on Friday, Karnataka said all issues raised by the state should be addressed by the Centre before going head with projects.
In the meeting Water Resources Department officials from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry were also present.
Before taking up Krishna-Pennar and Pennar-Cauvery linking, the Water Resources Ministry also address the issues of requirement of water in drought hit areas of the state, Cauvery Niravari Nigama (CNN) Managing Director K Jayaprakash said in the meeting.
Opposing Godavari-Krishna linking, Telangana said if the Centre goes head with this project, 50% availability of water should be allocated to it, sources in the Jal Shakti Ministry said.
Telangana also demanded modification of the existing detail project report (DPR) of Godavari-Krishna linking project.
Andhra Pradesh demanded that lower riparian state should get sufficient quantity of water while Tamil Nadu demanded 200 tmc feet of water as its share in river linking project.
The inter-linking of Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, Palar and Pennar rivers is part of the project to link Himalayan and Peninsular rivers.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget announced that once a consensus is reached among the beneficiary states, the Centre will provide support to implement the project.
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(Published 19 February 2022, 06:51 IST)
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