Bengaluru, May 3 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that a strong demand will be made for the issuance of a gazette notification during the Krishna River Valley meeting of the four concerned states, convened by the Union Jal Shakti Minister on May 7.
Speaking to the media in Bengaluru on Saturday, the Chief Minister said that in preparation for the meeting, a discussion was held earlier in the day with Deputy Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar, along with other ministers, legal experts, and senior officials to finalise the state’s stand.
He explained that although the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II had delivered its verdict on December 30, 2010, and a notification was issued in 2013, the central government has not issued any subsequent notification to date.
“The meeting has now been convened only after Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar and I met the Union Irrigation Minister and pressed for it,” Siddaramaiah said.
The second tribunal’s verdict had allocated 173 TMC of water to Karnataka. “To utilise this allocation effectively, the dam height must be raised from 519 meters to 524 meters. For this to happen, the gazette notification must be issued. We will reiterate this demand in the upcoming meeting,” he added.
The Chief Minister further mentioned that both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have also submitted their applications. “They should make use of the water allocated to them. Since the Supreme Court has not issued any interim order in this regard, we will proceed with raising the dam height to 524 meters,” he concluded.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has stated that the Karnataka government will exert pressure on the Central government to issue a gazette notification in line with the Krishna River Water Disputes Tribunal’s verdict, allowing the state to utilise its rightful share of water.
He said that the matter will be strongly raised during the meeting convened by the Union Jal Shakti Minister on May 7, adding that following this meeting, an all-party meeting will be held in Karnataka to discuss the issue further.
Addressing a press conference at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said: “We have been consistently pressuring the central government to issue the gazette notification based on the 2010 tribunal verdict. As a result, the Union Minister has now convened a meeting with ministers from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra. In preparation, we held a pre-meeting today to firm up the state’s position.”
He added, “The preparatory meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and attended by the Law Minister and concerned district ministers, including R.B. Timmapur, M.B. Patil, Shivananda Patil, and Sharanabasappa Darshanapur. Various suggestions were made, and a team of legal experts from Delhi was also present. We have discussed the state’s strategy and stance for the May 7 meeting. The entire team will represent Karnataka and present our case.”
Shivakumar further mentioned that the decision to proceed with the land acquisition process for the project had already been taken during the Belagavi Assembly session.
“Although the tribunal verdict came in 2010, the Centre has not issued the gazette notification to date. Karnataka has suffered heavy losses over the last 15 years. We are therefore mounting pressure on the Centre. The cost of the project has also escalated each year. Precious water is going to waste, and we are pushing to utilise it. It is a welcome move that the centre has finally acknowledged our situation and called for a meeting,” Shivakumar said.
–IANS
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