State seeks clarification from Mahadayi Tribunal

Karnataka on Wednesday filed a petition before the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal seeking clarifications on a number of issues including utilisation of surplus water.

In its petition, Karnataka sought to know from the Tribunal why there was restriction on Karnataka and Maharashtra from utilising their unutilised water while there was no such restriction on Goa.

Despite the Tribunal allowing Karnataka to take up hydroelectricity project by building reservoir at Kotni, Karnataka sought clarification on utilsation of non-consumptive water. The Tribunal, in its final order on August 14, allocated 13.42 tmcft of water to Karnataka from Mahadayi river, 24 tmcft to Goa and 1.33 tmcft to Maharashtra against its demand of 6.35 tmcft.

Karnataka, while seeking permission to divert 7 tmcft of water to Malaprabha reservoir from Kotni reservoir, said this quantity of water was required to address perennial drought in Mumbai- Karnataka region. The state also noted that for the past 26 years, Mahadayi reservoir filled only 11 times.

Though Karnataka sought 7.56 tmcft of water to provide drinking water to Hubballi-Dharwad twin cities, the Tribunal allocated only 3.90 tmcft of water for this purpose. With the increasing pressure on water due to growing population of the twin cities, the Tribunal should consider to meet the state’s demand, the Karnataka said in its plea.

Karnataka also sought clarification for reserving 147 tmc. ft water in Mahadayi for environmental flow while it was just 10 tmc. ft per year in Cauvery, Krishna and Tungabhadra river water sharing among basin states.