Taken at the flood? Politics, apathy, missed opportunities submerge K’taka
Twenty four people have been declared dead and properties worth over `6,000 crores damaged by the heavy rain and flooding in Karnataka, according to announcement by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa. The floods have been wreaking havoc in the Krishna and Cauvery basins, a now annual affair that is totally man-made. But who is responsible?
Hurdles
The delay in the constitution of the Krishna Water Decision Implementation Board, the failure to raise the height of Almatti Dam and constitute the water commission to tackle drought and floods are some of the underlying issues. That apart, flood relief measures and rescue operations are simply not up to par, despite timely warnings by the Indian Meteorological Department. The inability to tackle the issue by successive governments at the Centre and in the states are the reasons for the problem.
Krishna River
The second biggest river in peninsular India, after the Godavari, Krishna originates in the Western Ghats, near Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. It runs through four states - Maharashtra (303 km), North Karnataka (480 km), then through Telengana and Andhra Pradesh emptying into the Bay of Bengal to conclude its 1,300 km journey.
It is fed by the heavy rainfall of the Western Ghats, as well as normal and below-normal rains along its route to the Bay of Bengal. Several tributaries join its course along the way, contributing large volumes of water as they do so. The major ones are the Bhima, in Maharashtra and Tungabhadra, in Karnataka.
Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal
A common tribunal was constituted by the Indian government on April 10 1969, to adjudicate river water utilisation disputes among the river basin states of Krishna and Godavari. It was headed by R.S. Bachawat and produced its report under two schemes, A and B. Scheme A pertained to the division of waters based on 75% dependability, while Scheme B deals with the sharing of surplus waters.
The KWDT-1 provided for a review of its award after May 31, 2000. Nothing happened for nearly three years after that, but after all three states requested the formation of the second KWDT, the centre constituted it in April, 2004. As per the final award, Andhra Pradesh is entitled to 1,005 TMC of water, Karnataka will get 907 tmc and Maharashtra's share is 666 tmc. This award will be binding till 2050. Led by Supreme Court judge Brijesh Kumar, the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal II pronounced its final verdict on November 29, 2013.
The tribunal asked the Centre to appoint a Krishna Water Decision Implementation Board, representing Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana as well as the Centre. However, the Centre has not made a gazette notification in this regard even today. The respective riparian states have also failed to put sufficient pressure on the
Centre. Both the gazette notification and the constitution of the Board are essential to regulate the inflow and outflow of water in the reservoirs of the Krishna Basin. Instead, water from reservoirs is being discharged without regulation.
Political instability
Turmoil in riparian states, different political parties ruling in the Centre and state, lack of political commitment, negligence by officials and politicians of riparian states, who have failed to prevail upon the Centre to solve interstate water disputes, Mahadayi included, are among the major reasons why floods and inter-state water disputes remain unsolved even today.
Constitute board
The Centre must make this task a priority, constituting the Krishna River Disputes Decision Board along the lines of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), which has been regulating inflow and outflow of water in the Cauvery reservoir in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. However, the lack of management of the Krishna reservoir has led to flooding and the loss of lives in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
As per procedure, Union Minister of Jal Shakthi, as well as the Water Resources Department Secretary, must visit flood affected places to assess the damage caused by the discharge of lakhs of cusecs of water to downstream of the Krishna and Cauvery river basins.
Modernise IMD
The Indian Meteorological Department had forecast heavy rains in June and July, but the rains that have lashed Maharashtra and Karnataka in the first two weeks of August arrived contrary to the Met's predictions. The Centre must modernise and upgrade technology in the IMD.
Almatti Dam
The government of Karnataka is to be blamed for not increasing the height of Almatti Dam from 519.60 metres to 524.6 metres. If this is done, Karnataka could store an additional 130 tmc of water from River Krishna and irrigate an additional 5.40 lakh hectares. Floods can be mitigated to an extent in Maharashtra. The KWDT II final verdict has allowed Karnataka to increase the height of the dam, but political parties are much too busy mudslinging to do so. They also fear the submergence of various villages in Bagalakote, Vijaypura, Yadgir and other districts, for which new townships need to be created to relocate inhabitants.
Apathy has also been shown in the acquisition of the 40,000 hectares the project requires, as well as the failure to raise funds to complete it.
Ground water
In its final report, the KWDT directed Karnataka to focus on ground water rejuvenation, making use of rain and flood water in the Krishna river basin. This could help ease the shortage of drinking water, as many villages continue to depend on borewells and irrigation pumpsets as their primary source.
—The author is former Minor Irrigation Secretary and an Irrigation expert (As told to Ramesh S Kebbehundi)
