Karnataka seeks SC nod to utilise 75 tmcft of Krishna water

The Karnataka government on Monday sought the Supreme Court to allow it to utilise 75 tmcft of Krishna river water from June 2022 to irrigate around 5.94 lakh hectares of
land.

During the hearing of the matter related to the Krishna river water dispute, Karnataka informed the court that it has invested more than Rs 13,000 crore on phase III of the Upper Krishna project, including for the construction of canals and drains.

Since all infrastructure was ready, the state should be permitted to use its share of water for irrigation, it said.

Out of 173 tmc ft of additional water allocated to the state, it has made provision to utilise 130 tmc ft.

The state has planned to irrigate another about 5.94 lakh hectares by using an additional 75 tmc from June 2022, mostly in drought-hit districts like Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Koppal and Raichur.

At present, 75 tmc ft of water goes to sea as waste and the state is under pressure from farmers to supply water to their fields, Karnataka said in its affidavit.

Hearing from Nov 29

On Monday, a bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud said hearing of the pleas by Karnataka and Maharashtra, seeking early notification of the final award of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT), starts on November 29.

Senior counsels Shyam Diwan and Mohan Katarki, representing Karnataka, said after the final award of the tribunal, the state has created a 1,205-km network of canals to irrigate farm lands.

The state sought early hearing of the petitions, so that it can utilise its share of water.

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