SC refers Almatti dam issue to larger bench

"We observe that the dispute between the contesting states deserves to be heard at the earliest," the bench said and fixed January, 2000 for the hearing to commence.

Karnataka counsel Fali S Nariman contended that the state had not been able to utilise its share of around 700 TMC feet of Krishna river water awarded by the Bachawat tribunal almost 20 years ago and said there was an urgent need for the dam height to be raised to at least 519 meters as has been conceded by an expert committee.

However, Andhra Pradesh counsel K Parasaran said that the Central Water Commission has approved the dam height of only 512 meters and there has been no clearance from either this technical committee, Central Electricity Commission or the environment authority.

Maharashtra said it opposed raising of the dam height to 524 meters as large tract of the state would be inundated.

The constitution bench would also decide whether the court had jurisdiction to entertain matters relating to such disputes after the Express ban provided under Section 11 of the Inter State River Waters Disputes Act.

Karnataka had placed 26 crest gates without skin plates, used to arrest the flow of water, on the Almatti dam making provision for raising the effective height of the dam to 524 meters at a short notice of three months.

Nariman said the Bachawat tribunal under scheme-A had said Almatti dam could utilise 160 TMC feet water but at the present height of 509 meters, it could store only 23 TMC feet of water. He said if the height could be allowed up to 515.2 meters the storage capacity could go up to 48 TMC feet.

He said a scheme for division of surplus water was made but it has not been implemented at all and Andhra Pradesh was taking the whole 330 TMC feet of surplus water.

Andhra Pradesh through Parasaran contended that Karnataka has been able to garner the maximum benefit from the court by taking a piece-meal approach.

He said the state has been seeking a proper solution to the problem since 1997 but every time Karnataka had refused to heed to it terming it as unimportant and suddenly prefer to come to the court citing grave importance of the matter.

The Bachawat Tribunal Award, ironically, is open for review by the contesting states after May, 2000, but its original award is yet to be implemented fully, Nariman said.