The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Centre and the States of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra on a batch of special leave petitions challenging the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal award. A Bench of Justices S.J. Mukhopadaya and P.C. Pant issued notice returnable in six weeks after hearing counsel for the States. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana pleaded for quashing the award on the ground that it was detrimental to them.
The Andhra Pradesh government has challenged the award permitting Karnataka to raise the height of the Almatti dam from 519.6 mts to 524.25 mts. It said “the award will adversely affect the timely flow of water to the State affecting the agriculture operations in the Krishna Basin and entire ayacut of more than 35 lakh acres get affected.”
Common groundsThe common grounds raised in the appeals are “the award is unjust and materially irregular in the exercise of its jurisdiction and conflict with the provisions of the Inter State Water Disputes Act. The apportionment of water made by the Tribunal has failed to bear in mind the well settled and acknowledged principles of distribution and allocation of water based on equitable share of all the States, including A.P.”
