BENGALURU: Arguing that the scheme in its present form will deprive Karnataka of its due share of water, the state government said it will oppose the river linking project mentioned in the Un ion Budget 2022-23.
“The Centre has said it will proceed with the scheme of interlinking Cauvery, Krishna and Pennar rivers if there is consensus among the states on the DPR (detailed project report),” chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said. “We need clarity that we will get our due share of water. The DPR was prepared by the UPA government, according to which Kar nataka’s share has been reduced. We had objected to it in the past and our stand will continue. ”
Godavari-Krishna, Krishna-Pennar and Cauvery-Pennar are among five river-linking schemes Union fi nance minister Nirmala Sitaraman mentioned in her budget speech. She said DPRs are ready and the Centre will provide support to implement these projects once consensus is reached among beneficiary states.
However, experts said Karnataka will not benefit from these schemes as none of them pass through the state. Captain Raja Rao, irrigation expert, said the Centre should instead implement the Peninsular River Development (PRD) plan which envisages interlinking Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery and Pennar rivers.
Under the PRD plan, surplus water of Mahanadi and Godavari will be transferred to Krishna, Cauvery and Pennar. “While Karnataka will get 150 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet) under the PRD plan, the state will not get any water under the scheme the Centre is now talking about. So, we should oppose it,” said Captain Rao.
He said there are two schemes to link Krishna and Pennar under the PRD plan: One, from Almatti Dam in Karnataka to Pennar in Tamil Nadu and the other from Srisailam dam in Andhra Pradesh to Pennar in Tamil Nadu, but the Almatti-Pennar scheme has been dropped.
“Similarly, the Cauvery-Pennar river-linking project mentioned in the budget lies outside the borders of Karnataka. And hence none of these projects will be of any benefit to us. ” he said.
Senior counsel Mohan Katarki, who appears for Karnataka in river water disputes in the Supreme Court, said: “The proposal to interlink rivers and transfer surplus water from Godavari to Krishna to Cauvery is a right decision. However, surplus water must accrue equally to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. ”
