The Centre will soon convene a meeting of the riparian states on Karnataka’s proposal to increase the height of the Alamatti Dam, a move opposed by neighbouring Tamil Nadu, where the DMK, an alliance partner, is in power.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who met Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil and MOS V Sumanna, said that the Union ministers had given an assurance to hold a meeting of all the stakeholders to discuss the issue. “We have submitted an appeal to the Centre to issue a Gazette notification on increasing the height of the Alamatti dam. The Minister has assured to hold a meeting of all stakeholders to discuss the issue,” Shivakumar said.
“Water sharing between the riparian states was decided long ago, with only a Gazette notification pending. The land acquisition process for the Alamatti dam enhancement is complete, and we have also requested the Centre to declare it a national project.,” Shivakumar said and added, “The Centre is working on the Upper Bhadra project, and we are told that it has been placed before the Cabinet. The Supreme Court had said that it would hear the Mekedatu case in 15 days, but it has not fixed a date yet. We are aware that Tamil Nadu will not support this project politically. They are building a few small dams in the Cauvery basin, but we are not objecting to it.”
On other pending water projects in the state, the Deputy Chief Minister said, “We also brought to the attention of the Minister the environmental clearance for the Kalasa-Bhanduri project. We appealed to the Minister to release some grants for the Yettinahole project as it is a drinking water project. The Minister has promised to look into the DPR. The CM and I have presented our case for the river-linking project between Cauvery, Krishna, and Godavari. The Union Minister has also responded positively for this.”