Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi has accused Telangana and Goa of trying to create a new controversy over the sharing of Krishna and Mahadayi waters and said the State government would not allow injustice to be meted out to Karnataka in this regard.
In a press release issued after a telephonic talk with Union Minister of Water Resources Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, he said that the State government would present its arguments effectively before the Union government and the Supreme Court.
Mr. Jarkiholi has said that Telangana was trying to create make an issue out of Krishna river water sharing on which the tribunal had already given its final verdict in 2013. “Already water share has been allocated to Karnataka, Maharashtra and the earlier united Andhra Pradesh. The Union government too has decided to notify the verdict after the Supreme Court verdict. At this point Telangana’s plea for setting up a new water disputes tribunal is illogical”, he has said.
The Minister has said in the release that he had discussed in detail the issue with the Mr. Shekhawat following the plea by Telangana. During the telephonic conversation he had urged the Union Minister not to bring Karnataka into the differences between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
As the water requirements of Telangana had already been considered as it was part of the united Andhra Pradesh, Telangana had to get its share from Andhra Pradesh and various Supreme Court orders too were clear in this regard. Considered these facts, the two States should sit together and sort out the differences in water sharing through dialogue. The demand for a new tribunal was certainly not a justifiable one, Mr. Jarkiholi had told the Union Minister, the release said.
Mahadayi
Regarding Mahadayi, Mr. Jarkiholi has termed the contempt petition by Goa government as ludicrous. “Already the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal has given its final verdict and the Union government too has notified the verdict. It is really funny that the Goa government has now filed a contempt of court petition against Karnataka”, he has said in the release.
Terming the photographs and videos released by Goa as fabricated documents, Mr. Jarkiholi has said that Karnataka would face the charges effectively in the Supreme Court . He has said that he had received a factual report on the ground situation from the committee comprising senior officials of Water Resources Department from both the States.
Mr. Jarkiholi has said that the argument of Goa that Karnataka had illegally diverted Mahadayi waters could not be accepted. Meanwhile Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa too had written an emergency letter to the Union Water Resources Minister urging him to facilitate utilisation of the allotted share of water to Karnataka, the Minister has said in the release.