Karnataka to convene all-party meet, push Centre for Krishna water award notification

Time of India

03-05-2025

Bengaluru: Chief minister Siddaramaiah Saturday announced that an all-party meeting will soon be convened to discuss the implementation of the
Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II
final award, as the state prepares for a crucial inter-state water ministers' meeting called by the
Union Jal Shakti ministry
on May 7.
After chairing a high-level meeting ahead of the Centre's proposed gathering of water resources ministers from the Krishna basin states, Siddaramaiah reiterated that the govt remains committed to protecting the interests of Karnataka's farmers and will pursue all legal avenues to secure its rightful share of Krishna river water. "We will pursue all legal options to secure the state's rightful share of Krishna river water," he added.
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The meeting, which was attended by deputy CM and water resources minister DK Shivakumar, along with ministers HK Patil, MB Patil, RB Thimmapur, Sharanabasappa Darshanapur, Shivanand Patil, chief secretary Shalini Rajneesh, advocate Mohan Katarki, focused on key issues.
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One of the primary concerns discussed was the long-pending notification of the Krishna Tribunal-II award by the Centre. The tribunal had delivered its final verdict on Dec 30, 2010, and submitted a further report on Nov 29, 2013, allocating 173 tmc of water to Karnataka. Of this, 130 TMC was earmarked for the
Upper Krishna Project Phase-3
. However, Andhra Pradesh had filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court challenging the tribunal's order. As a result, the Supreme Court, in its order dated Sept 16, 2011, directed that no notification of the award should be issued until further notice.
Despite repeated representations from Karnataka, the Centre has not yet issued the gazette notification of the tribunal's final order. "It has been 15 years since the tribunal passed its award. Farmers in the UKP-3 region of north Karnataka are still waiting to access their legitimate share of water," the CM said.
The CM also pointed out that the SC had previously directed the Centre to publish the Cauvery Tribunal's order, even when appeals were pending. A similar directive was given for the Mahadayi Tribunal award on Feb 20, 2020, and both verdicts were eventually notified by the Centre. Siddaramaiah stressed Karnataka will now demand the same approach for the Krishna Tribunal award.
He also said they will mount pressure on the Centre to clear the decks for increasing the height of Almatti dam by issuing a notification of the award of Justice Brijesh Kumar Krishna River Water Disputes Tribunal, enabling the riparian states to utilise additional allocation of waters. "In its second award, the tribunal has allocated us 130 tmcft of additional water. To utilise this, we need to increase the height of the dam to 524 metres from 519 metres, he added.
The state govt has resolved to continue pressuring the Centre to publish the notification and to consider seeking a modification of the 2011 SC order that restricts the notification of the award.
Quote
We will pressure the Centre in the meeting convened by the Jal Shakti minister on May 7 to publish a gazette notification to allow Karnataka to use its share of water. Later, we will call an all-party meeting
DK Shivakumar | Deputy CM