The Hindu : Maharashtra refuses to releases water

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 12, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Maharashtra refuses to releases water

By Suresh Bhat

BIJAPUR APRIL 11. The early implementation of the April 1 order of the Supreme Court on the public interest litigation (PIL) related to Bheema waters appears uncertain as Maharashtra has refused to release water from the Ujjani Dam.

This stand of Maharashtra, which reportedly agreed to ensure at least 200 cusecs of water flow to Karnataka in the next three months at a meeting held in Hyderabad on March 28 convened by Central Water Commission, has put the Centre and Karnataka in an awkward situation. The non-implementation of the Supreme Court order even after 10 days is worrying the Centre and Karnataka even as the petitioner of the PIL, Bheema Nadi Neeru Rakshana Raithavarga Samiti, headed by Panchappa Kalburgi, has threatened to initiate contempt proceedings against the respondents (the Centre and the State), if the relief given by the court did not materialise by April 15.

Maharashtra (through its Irrigation Secretary, Wadnery) on Wednesday wrote to V.K. Jyothi, Chief Engineer, Krishna and Godavari Basin Organisation (KGBO) of the CWC denying having agreed to release water. According to the letter, representatives of Maharashtra at the March 28 meeting only explained the water scarcity faced by that State. The proceedings of the meeting were wrongly recorded by saying that Maharashtra had agreed to release water from Ujjani Dam. To set the record straight, the CWC could file the corrected version of the minutes of the meeting before the apex court, Maharashtra said.

Confirming the development, the Irrigation Secretary, Chennabasappa, told The Hindu over phone from Bangalore that Karnataka had received a copy of the letter from Maharashtra. The Minister for Water Resources, H.K.Patil, had written to his Maharashtra counterpart, Ajit Pawar, to help implement the Supreme Court order. Meanwhile, this "unforeseen" development had unfolded, Mr. Chennabasappa added.

However, sources said the State Government, apart from attempting to persuade Maharashtra to implement the court order, would approach the Centre, which was also a respondent in the case, to discuss a way out of the crisis. Admitting that it was not easy to end the impasse going by Maharashtra's past responses on the issue, the sources said the latest turnaround by the upper riparian State had created an "extraordinary situation" for the S.M.Krishna Government, which suffered serious setbacks in the Cauvery row. The only solace for the State was that the Union Government was also a party in the case.

Following the March 11 directions of the Supreme Court, the CWC convened a tripartite meeting in Hyderabad on March 28 in which apart from its representatives, the Irrigation Department officials of Maharashtra and Karnataka participated. After long deliberations, the meeting chaired by the Chief Engineer, KGBO of CWC, V.K.Jyothi, arrived at a consensus on the issue. As per his report, which was submitted to Supreme Court on April 1, Maharashtra agreed to release water into the Bheema from the Ujjani Dam to ensure at least 200 cusecs of water flow at Takli water gauging station.

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