Bengaluru: “Karnataka has not got its fair share of the water. Injustice has been done to the state with regard to the Mahadayi river issue. We will, therefore, seek legal advice in order to repeal the verdict,” said Minister for Water Resources and Medical Education, DK Shivakumar.
Speaking further on the issue, he said that the people of the state had been betrayed. “Out of the total of 34 TMC of water, including 15 TMC of drinking water requested by us, we received only 3.9 TMC for drinking and 1.5 TMC for other purposes,” DKShi said, adding that they would appeal to the Supreme Court or the tribunal following a discussion with legal experts.
To clarify, he stated that there was nothing political about the matter. “There is no politics involved in this issue. We must fight to keep our rights over the Mahadayi river water. Right now, our priority is to get justice regarding the matter. How much water is given to the other parties is not important,” he added.
The minister chose not to respond to Goa’s reported dissatisfaction over the Mahadai verdict.
He also informed that Central minister Nitin Gadkari has called for a meeting of all the states’ irrigation ministers on August 20. The main agenda for the meeting is to discuss the interstate interlinking of rivers. He also said that other topics that would be brought to the attention of the Central minister would be the recent flooding, rain-related devastation and water scarcity in areas where there hasn’t been enough rain.
