The State government will meet Fali S. Nariman, Karnataka’s counsel — who is in the city on a private visit — to discuss legal hurdles pertaining to pending irrigation projects in the Krishna and Cauvery river basins.
M.B. Patil, Minister for Water Resources, told presspersons on Monday that legal hurdles pertaining to the Upper Krishna and Mahadayi projects, and the Cauvery waters dispute would be taken up for discussion.
Legal opinion sought“Work on the projects has to be taken up. The State will obtain legal opinion based on which we can take the required interim steps to expedite the projects,” he said.
Mr. Nariman will be consulted on whether to issue a gazette notification with regard to increasing the height of the Alamatti dam, which has been stayed by the Supreme Court, and notifications pertaining to the Mahadayi valley project.
The State government had issued a gazette notification with regard to the Cauvery basin, while the Special Leave Petition (SLP) is still pending in the apex court. “In this case, we will ask whether issuing such a notification would go against the State’s interest. We will issue it only after getting a green signal from Mr. Nariman,” Mr. Patil said.
TelanganaReplying to queries, Mr. Patil said the formation of the State of Telangana would not result in additional inter-State water disputes with Karnataka.
‘Not our problem’“The Supreme Court has already given its verdict on sharing the Krishna waters with Andhra Pradesh. Now, sharing of Andhra Pradesh’s share is between the new Telangana and Seemandhra States. Karnataka will not have anything to do with that,” he said.
