Yeddy Happy at 524 mts Almatti Dam Height, Feels 'Reasonably Satisfied'
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Dec 30: Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa reacted that he was ''reasonably satisfied” at the award of Justice Brijesh Kumar into the ''B” Scheme allocation of Krishna river water to the State.
The Tribunal’s award, which granted Karnataka’s demand for increasing the height of the Almatti Dam to its original level of 524.256 meters, has come as a ''New Year gift to the State,” the chief minister said.
Pointing out that the initial reports of the highlights of the Justice Brijesh Kumar’s Tribunal’s award indicated that the State has been allocated 177 tmcft of Krishna river water under the 'B’ Scheme, Yeddyurappa said it was satisfactory.
''I would have been extremely happy if the Tribunal had accepted the State’s demand for allocation of the 258 tmc of the surplus water under 'B’ Scheme as allocated by the Bachawat tribunal,” he said explaining that an allocation of 177 tmcft could have been a little more on the higher side.
The Tribunal has held that the Award will be valid till year 2050 and will be open for fresh adjudication afterwards. ''This is a welcome decision as the future generation of Kannadigas will be able to reopen and seek to renegotiate the allocation of water in another four decades,” Yeddyurappa said.
Karnataka’s share of Krishna water as per the Bachawat Tribunal’s A Scheme was 700 tmc and with 177 from the B Scheme as decided by the Justice Brijesh Kumar Tribunal. With an additional 34 tmc from other sources, the total share of the state works out to 911 tmc.
The Bachawat tribunal, which went into the allocation of the Krishna river, had distributed 2060 tmc of water under the A Scheme between Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. While Karnataka got 700 tmc, Maharashtra got 500 tmc and the share of Andhra Pradesh was 800 timc.
While Andhra Pradesh had fully utilized its share of the 800 tmc of Krishna water under the A scheme, Karnataka was able to utilize barely 566 tmc and still had to utilize 134 tmc of water. Maharashtra had also not been able to fully utilize its share of Krishna water.
Andhra Pradesh had objected to Karnataka constructing the Almatti dam to a height of 524 meters and the matter was taken to the Supreme Court, which asked the State to reduce the dam’s height to 519 meters. The Maharshtra government had also objected to the raising of the Almatti dam as it would have meant impounding of more water and consequent flooding of portions of its land.
Yeddyurappa made it clear that he awaited a full report of the Tribunal’s Award and hold consultations with technical and legal experts before coming out with his detailed reaction.
The chief minister also promised to discuss the issue and the salient features of the Tribunal’s award with the leaders of all opposition parties before finalizing the state’s stand. ''The ensuing session of the state legislature will be an ideal opportunity to discuss the report and its findings,” he said.
The other members of the Justice Brijesh Kumar Tribunal are Justice Srivatsav and Justice D K Seth.