The State government has appointed the former Chief Engineer M. Bangaraswamy as the Principal Coordinator and Adviser to Inter-State Water Disputes replacing former Additional Chief Secretary P.B. Rama Murthy.
The decision on the fresh appointment comes in the light of allegations that Mr. Rama Murthy, during his over two-year tenure as the Principal Coordinator, did not come up with any reports on the issue and was also not attending proceedings in the Supreme Court pertaining to the Cauvery dispute, and at the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal. The Chief Engineer of the Water Resources Development Organisation, which is part of Water Resources department, in a letter to the Irrigation secretary in September, 2019, highlighted this while recommending the termination of his services.
Mr. Rama Murthy did not respond to calls and messages for his reaction.