Water Resources Minister M.B. Patil led a high-level delegation and met his Telangana counterpart Harish Rao in Hyderabad on Thursday. He requested Telangana to allow Karnataka to utilise 3.5 tmc ft. of water with respect to Rajolibanda diversion scheme to mitigate the acute shortage of water due to scanty rainfall in the Tungabhadra catchment area.
Speaking to newsmen after the meeting,Mr. Patil said that “We have highlighted the the distressed condition prevailed in the Tungabhadra basin in Karnataka and urged the Telangana government to allow the State to use 3.5 tmc ft. of water. The Telangana government has positively responded to the demand.”
According to a press release issued here, Mr. Patil said “The State had released one tmc ft. of water from the Narayanapura dam to cater to the drinking water needs of Mehboobnagar district of Telangana in 2016-17 and in 2017-18 on humanitarian grounds. We have brought this to the notice of Mr. Rao. We have agreed to provide full support to the modernisation works of the Rajolibanda diversion scheme and assured to expedite the works to complete them by July 2018.”
