Maharashtra and Karnataka have jointly decided to oppose Andhra Pradesh’s application against the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal order given in the wake of the bifurcation of the Andhra and Telangana divisions.
Both the States took a firm stand that Andhra and Telangana should take water from their joint allotted share, senior officials said following a meeting between Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday. The States have also decided to form a high-level committee for better dam management to avoid flood situations.
The tribunal had adjudicated on the quantum of water-sharing between the three States back when Andhra Pradesh was united. But after the creation of Telangana, Andhra demanded redistribution of the quantum and filed a petition in this regard. Maharashtra and Karnataka have decided to oppose this petition now, senior officials said.
Earlier, Mr. Yediyurappa paid respects during Ganesh Darshan at Mr. Fadnavis’ residence ‘Varsha’ along with Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai. Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan and Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule were also present. The two Chief Ministers met in the wake of unprecedented floods in the region and a raging dispute over water-for-water agreement, which Maharashtra is refusing to sign off on until it gets back over 6 tmcft of pending water supply from Karnataka. The latter has returned only 0.078 tmcft of the 6.787 tmcft of water diverted to it since 2016.
Earlier charges
In the past, the Water Resources Ministers of the two States have traded charges, blaming each other for the faltering deal. Former Karnataka Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar had described Maharashtra’s decision to cancel the MoU on the matter as “shocking”, while Mr. Mahajan had said that Karnataka’s claims were false. The two States then sparred over signing an MoU to exchange 4 tmcft of water on each side of the border, on the condition that Karnataka return 10.787 tmcft at the end of the agreement period, senior officials said.
