Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday chaired a meeting in New Delhi with Karnataka’s legal and technical experts to chalk out strategies for speedy settlement of cases related water sharing disputes with neighbouring States in the Supreme Court.
Mr. Bommai said the meeting largely focused on disputes related to the Cauvery, the Mahadayi, and the Krishna water sharing with neighbouring States.
With regard to the proposed balancing reservoir in the Cauvery basin at Mekedatu in Ramanagaram district, Mr. Bommai said it had been decided to put forth the State government’s stand when the case gets listed for hearing next time in the apex court.
The Tamil Nadu government has opposed the Mekedatu project and filed a petition in the court. A citizen has also filed a petition in a court in Madurai in Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka’s legal team has been told to argue the case to get it quashed since it has no locus standi . Tamil Nadu has unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government not to accord permission to Karnataka for the Mekedatu project.
River-linking project
Holding that “downstream interlinking river projects being implemented in Tamil Nadu are illegal in nature”, the Chief Minister said another petition would be filed in the Supreme Court against the neighbouring State and the matter would also be taken up with the Union government.
Mr. Bommai said the dispute over Kalasa–Banduri Nala project in the Mahadayi basin was also discussed. The hearing of the case is listed in September. The legal team has been told to explain the main issues in the special leave petition. Goa has been opposing the State’s project.
The legal team has been asked to prepare a plan for early issue of a gazette notification by the Centre on sharing of the Krishna waters. The Telangana government has filed a petition before the court seeking to resolve the dispute.
In a week
Mr. Bommai said he met senior advocates Mohan Katarki on Wednesday and Shyam Divan on Thursday and discussed ways to proceed in view of the existing water disputes. “In a week or so, they will inform us of the progress,” the Chief Minister said.
Karnataka Minister for Major and Medium Irrigation Govind M. Karajol; Health Minister K. Sudhakar; Shivakumar Udasi, MP; Additional Chief Secretary, Water Resources, Rakesh Singh, Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary Manjunath Prasad N., and Advocate-General Prabhuling Navadgi attended the meeting.
