BENGALURU: Karnataka plans to seek legal recourse — it’s even exploring the option of moving the Supreme Court — over the Centre’s proposal in the Union Budget to link rivers in southern states. Officials said the state will also demand the constitution of a tribunal to allocate river water to riparian states.
Karnataka has already asked the Centre to keep detailed reports (DPR) on the river-linking projects on hold since there is no clarity yet on the quantity of water states will get. It also plans to reiterate its stand, while asking the Centre to rework the DPR, depending on the allocation of water.
“The DPRs do not mention allocation of water so we are asking the Centre not to finalise the projects until allocation of water for the states is finalised by an appropriate authority,” said Rakesh Singh, additional chief secretary, water resources department. “We will oppose the proposal until we are convinced that we will get our rightful share of water. ”
The Centre plans to interlink rivers with the intention of transferring surplus water in the Mahanadi (430 tmcft) and Godavari (247 tmcft) basins to the deficit basins of Krishna, Cauvery, and Pennar. While Odisha has objected to linking Mahanadi to other rivers, the Centre has proceeded with the proposal of transferring water from Godavri and DPRs for Godavri-Krishna, Krishna-Pennar, and Pennar-Cauvery have been prepared. The case Karnataka is making is that the state can irrigate only 50% of its cultivable land (73. 8 lakh hectares) with water from Krishna and Cauvery and it needs more of the precious, scarce resource.
In her budget speech, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said these DPRs have been finalised and the Centre will provide support to implement the project once a consensus is reached among beneficiary states.
No benefit
Karnataka’s concern is that the state will not benefit from the project in its present form as it is not directly linked to the scheme. The projects are all outside its borders. While it had raised objections in 2020 when the Centre had sent the DPRs to the state, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai had made a strong point during the meeting of the South Zonal Council in November last year in Tirupati, as he urged the Centre to put the project on hold.
“The state can either ask the Centre to constitute a tribunal that will allocate water among states, or it can directly approach the Supreme Court seeking allocation,” said Captain Raja Rao, irrigation expert.
Bommai is now set to consult legal experts. “I am planning a visit to New Delhi next week and one of the programmes is to consult our lawyers and legal experts on inter-state water issues,” he said.
Besides securing Karnataka’s due share of water, Bommai also faces the challenge of addressing conflicts within the state over the river-linking scheme. People of north Karnataka have objected, saying the scheme will deprive them of water and that the project will only benefit the southern districts.
