Mahadayi water sharing: Siddaramaiah writes to Goa, Maharashtra CMs for meeting

“Unfortunately there was no response from your side. I only wish you had replied to my letter since I took the initiative for the negotiated settlement not only on my own but also on the suggestion made by the Hon’ble judges of the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal on September 1, 2016,’’ the Karnataka chief minister stated in his letter, dated December 22.

“Be that as it may, I once again request that we, the chief ministers of the three states of Mahadayi basin — Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa — meet on any convenient date at the earliest so as to try and arrive at a negotiated settlement. The matter is urgent because the tribunal has fixed the final hearing of the reference from February 6 to February 22, 2018 with its order dated November 30, 2017,’’ states the letter.

The Karnataka chief minister also clarified that it is staking a claim to not just 7.56 TMC of drinking water as its share from the Mahadayi. “I may clarify that the state of Karnataka has claimed 14.98 TMC out of the dependable flow of 199 TMC at 75 per cent dependability (as estimated by the CWC in 2003) which includes drinking water needs in Hubbali Dharwad etc of 7.56 TMC (cleared by the central government in 2003) and 7 TMC out of the surplus flow for drought prone areas etc in the Malaprabha basin,’’ says the letter.

Siddaramaiah, who has been asking the BJP to get Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convene a meeting of the Mahadayi riparian states to resolve the dispute, has called the Goa government’s letter to the state BJP an “election gimmick’’. Karnataka goes to polls early next year.