BENGALURU: The all-party meeting, convened by Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai to discuss inter-state water disputes on Friday, decided to speed up necessary clearances for the Mekedatu and Kalasa-Banduri projects from the Union government.
Bommai said water resources minister Govind Karjol will visit Delhi next week to impress upon Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to get environmental clearance for both projects. The CM said he'll also visit Delhi after the ongoing budget session. "After my visit, if necessary I'll take an all-party delegation to Delhi to put further pressure," he added. Bommai said the Mekedatu project is currently before the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the state will demand early clearance of the detailed project report. "The CWMA has discussed the Mekedatu project and in the next meeting, we'll try to get it cleared," he said.
As far as Mahadayi is concerned, the Centre has already published the tribunal's final verdict in the gazette and only environmental clearance is necessary for the state to go ahead with implementation. "I'm confident we'll get environmental clearance at the earliest," he said.
Bommai said the Centre is yet to publish the final verdict of the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal and the state has moved the Supreme Court. "The hearing is delayed as two judges have recused themselves. We'll request the SC to appoint new judges and conclude the hearing as early as possible," he said.
About the Godavari-Krishna-Cauvery- Pennar rivers linking project, he said the state has made its stand clear that unless the state's share is finalised, the Centre should not go ahead with it. "We'll stick to this stand," he said.
Opposition parties sought technical details of the river-linking project and the government will get them after sourcing it from the Centre.
Siddaramaiah said Tamil Nadu has no ground to oppose the Mekedatu project and the state government must convince the Centre about it. "We told the government to oppose the river-linking project as we don't know how much water the state will get. We tried to convince the government that the state will face injustice due to the project," he said. He also urged the CM to withdraw cases filed against them during the Mekedatu padayatra.
KPCC president DK Shivakumar, former water resources minister H K Patil, MB Patil, JD(S) MLA Bandeppa Kashempur and others attended the meeting.
