Bengaluru: The state Congress was on Tuesday cautious in responding to the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal (MWDT ) final order allocating 5.5 tmcft of water for meeting the drinking requirements of four districts covering 14 taluks of North Karnataka. Speaking to reporters, KPCC president, Dinesh Gundu Rao said the tribunal’s verdict did not fully meet the state’s expectations.
“We have not got full justice from the tribunal. We demanded 7.5 tmcft of water for drinking needs of our people and 30 tmcft from the Mahadayi for the state, but the tribunal has awarded only 5.5. tmcft of water for drinking and 13.5 tmcft of water on the whole from the river,” he noted, adding that the party would react in more detail after studying the entire tribunal order. State BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa said it was in favour of Karnataka.
“We demanded 7.5 tmcft of water for drinking and the tribunal has allocated 5.5 tmcft,” he said, requesting the state government to take up the Kalasa- Banduri project on a war- footing now. Both the BJP and Congress had fought bitterly over the Mahadayi issue in the recent Assembly elections. The BJP, which got a written assurance from Goa CM Manohar Parrikar that he was ready to resolve the issue amicably, found itself in a fix after he did a U -turn saying he was not ready to resolve the issue out of court.
Later BJP president Amit Shah invited Parrikar and Karnataka BJP leaders for talks on the dispute in Delhi and PM Modi assured voters of North Karnataka that the Mahadayi row would be resolved amicably after the Assembly elections. With the tribunal now allowing Karnataka to divert 5.5 tmcft of water from Mahadyi through the Kalasa-Banduri nala to the Malaprabha reservoir, Karnataka is bound to step up pressure on the Centre to clear the Kalasa -Banduri project. And it is likely to become a poll issue once again between the BJP and Congress in 2019 LS elections.
