The alarming drying up of major rivers, particularly in the Krishna and Bheema River basins, has plunged the state into a severe water crisis in at least five districts in North Karnataka.
River - Representational image
As the Congress leadership ramps up preparations for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the local party leaders including MLAs are pressurising Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to address the severe water crisis in the state at the earliest.
The alarming drying up of major rivers, particularly in the Krishna and Bheema River basins, has plunged the state into a severe water crisis in at least five districts in North Karnataka.
Against the backdrop of a complete monsoon failure and soaring temperatures, the once-flowing lifelines now stand parched, amplifying the urgency for effective solutions from the government.
In a bid to address the water crisis, the chief minister in February 2024, had penned a letter to his counterpart in Maharashtra, CM Eknath Shinde, appealing to release around 4 tmc of water to the Krishna and Bheema Rivers from Koyna and Warna dams, and Ujjaini reservoirs, respectively.
However, he is yet to receive a reply from his counterpart.
Even the officials at the secretary levels are said to have communicated with their counterparts requesting to release water to Krishna and Bheema River.
However, despite the chief minister writing a letter and officials communicating with the Maharashtra government, the Shinde government is reportedly not responding to Karnataka’s requests.
In another development, a delegation led by Chikkodi incumbent MP Annasaheb Jolle, recently called on Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis requesting him to release water to Krishna river from Koyna reservoir.
Meanwhile, the local district administrations are supplying drinking water through hundreds of water tankers to meet the demand of the rural areas in Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Raichur, Kalaburagi and Yadgir districts.
With 2024 Lok Sabha polls nearing and campaigning gaining momentum in Karnataka, the Congress MLAs are said to be mounting pressure on the Chief Minister to address the looming water crisis in the Krishna and Bheema River basin.
The Krishna and Bheema Rivers – lifeline of at least five districts – have completely dried up, compelling the people to depend on the water tankers for drinking and domestic purposes.
Amidst the water crisis, the entire machinery of the Congress, including the cabinet ministers, is occupied in the parliament election campaigning across the state.
On the other hand, the farmers and people are leading a tough life, praying for rain.
Meanwhile, the local MLAs are being questioned about the government’s inactiveness in resolving the water crisis while they are busy campaigning for the elections in rural areas.
Admitting that the water crisis is severe, Kagawad MLA Raju Kage told South First: “The water crisis is severe in the Krishna River basin. People are questioning us wherever I go for campaigning. It has become difficult to answer them.”
“We are pressuring the chief minister to address the burning issue, while communicating with his Maharashtra’s counterpart. He also wrote a letter and our officials are communicating with neighbouring state officials,” he said.
“Even BJP’s incumbent Chikkodi MP Jolle had taken a delegation from this region and met Maharashtra’s Deputy CM Fadnavis in Mumbai recently. He requested him to release water from Koyna dam to Krishna River, considering the severe water crisis in the region,” the Congress lawmaker said.
He added that they don’t want to politicise the issue and getting water released from Maharashtra is the government’s top priority.
On anonymity, another Congress MLA told South First: “When the Chief Minister had called for a meeting to discuss the poll preparations in Belagavi, all the MLAs stressed Siddaramaiah to get the water released from Maharashtra.”
“Even I am also facing difficulty while campaigning in the rural areas as people are demanding solutions. We are hopeful that the government will follow up with its counterpart and resolve the water crisis, which is the need of the hour,” added the MLA from Belagavi district.
According to the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited (KBJNL), the water storage at Almatti Dam stands at 38.481 tmc against the maximum capacity of 123.081 tmc. The inflow is nil and outflow stands at 2,777 cusecs.
As the water crisis is looming large in Krishna and Bheema River basin, Belagavi District Kannada Organisations Action Committee President and Irrigation Activist Ashok Chandaragi has written a letter to CM Siddaramaiah to initiate measure for the release of water from Maharashtra to Krishna and Bheema Rivers on Wednesday, 3 April, 2024.
In a letter addressed to the chief minister, Activist Chandaragi highlighted the surging water crisis in Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Raichur districts.
He also stressed to amicably resolve the approximately six-year pending water-sharing treaty proposed by Maharashtra government, in the interest of the people dwelling in the Krishna River basin.
Ashok Chandaragi told South First: “The water crisis is severe in all the talukas that are on the banks of Krishna and Bheema River basin. People are completely dependent on water tankers as the rivers, streams and other resources have dried up.”
“In Rajapur Barrage, where Krishna River makes an entry into Karnataka from Maharashtra, the water that is available is said to be sufficient for only eight days. This situation is so grave at the ground but the chief minister is busy in poll campaigning,” fumed Chandaragi.
He continued, “The government has to ensure the water release to Krishna and Bheema River from the neighbouring state. If the government was serious, it would have taken an all party delegation or met the Maharashtra CM over this burning crisis before the code of conduct was in place.”
“Now, the Karnataka Chief Secretary (Rajneesh Goel) should either write a letter or communicate with his counterpart in Maharashtra to get the water released at the earliest. If not, the situation will worsen and put people’s lives in difficulty,” elaborated Chandaragi.
While the Congress MLAs and activists demanded the Siddaramaiah government to ensure water release from Maharashtra, the government officials claimed that they are raising the issue with their counterparts. However, response is poor.
Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh told South First: “For the last one month, several times at the Chief Minister level – the government has reached the Maharashtra government requesting for the release of water for the Krishna and Bheema Rivers.”
“The crisis is high in these two river basins in North Karnataka. In a bid to address the water crisis to a certain extent, we got water released to Bheema river from the Narayanpura reservoir, which is built against the Krishna River. The river beds are completely dry,” he said.
“We have requested our counterparts to release water from Ujjain to the Bheema river for 2 to 3 days. Even I communicated with the neighbouring state officials around fortnight ago on the same matter. We are waiting for their response. We are hopeful that they would respond to us positively,” ACS Singh said, reiterating that they are seriously pursuing the matter.
When Karnataka used to face a severe water crisis during summer in the Krishna River basin – there would be a financial transaction for water between the Karnataka and Maharashtra governments – but this practice has been discontinued since 2016.
From 2002 to 2016, the state government would pay around ₹2 crore to ₹4 crore in order to get approximately 2 tmc to 4 tmc water released to the Krishna River from Maharashtra during the water crisis in summer.
However, this practice has been discontinued after the Maharashtra government came up with a water exchange proposal instead of water for money agreement.
Irrigation Activist Chandaragi pointed: “Maharashtra discontinued supply of water to Karnataka for money since 2016. They have proposed a water exchange MoU with Karnataka.”
“The Shinde government has proposed that Karnataka must release 4 tmc of water to Jatha and Akkalkot, where in return they would release 4tmc of water to Karnataka during summer. They also demanded the state government to bear the project cost, which has remained the point of contention between the two states,” he said.
“Karnataka has agreed on providing the required land to set-up a pump station and lay pipeline for about 30 kms but they are not budging. Both the government representatives have to sit together and amicably settle the issue. If this is addressed then the water crisis is permanently resolved in the Krishna basin,” said Chandaragi.
Though the Congress government, which came to power on 20 May, 2023, has written a letter, it has not chaired a single meeting with its counterpart to resolve the water disputes between the two states.
ACS Rakesh Singh told South First: “We cannot allocate water to Maharashtra from Tubachi-Babaleshwar scheme, where the 6 tmc of water from the Krishna River has been allocated to irrigate over 66,000 acres.”
“There are several other issues also which need to be looked into. We have to sit together (both the state governments) and resolve this amicably,” added Singh.
(Edited by Shauqueen Mizaj)
May 03, 2024
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