‘File petition to know State’s share from Ujjani reservoir’

Panchappa Kalburgi, president of the Bhima Nadi Neeru Ulisi Horata Samiti, demanded that the State government file a writ petition in the Supreme Court to know the legal limits for the State’s share of water from the Ujjani reservoir in Maharashtra.

Addressing presspersons here recently, he said that as per the Bachawat tribunal award of 1976 on inter-State water sharing, it is clearly mentioned that Maharashtra should release 15 tmcft of water from its reservoir to the Bhima in Karnataka.

Even after four decades, the State government has made little efforts to resolve the dispute and failed to implement the projects for water storage in the Bhima to utilise the 15 tmcft of water, Mr. Kalburgi said.

In Karnataka, around 178 villages, including 38 in Vijayapura and 140 in Kalaburagi and Yadgir, are dependent on the Bhima for irrigation and drinking water purposes.

Due to the lack of information on the present status of water storage at the reservoir, a State government delegation failed to get the water released to Karnataka.

Mr. Kalburgi urged farmers residing on the banks of the Bhima to launch an agitation against the government demanding the State’s share of water released.