Maharashtra-Karnataka water dispute: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday wrote to his Maharashtra counterpart Eknath Shinde requesting him to direct the concerned authorities to immediately release 2.00 TMC of water from Warna/Koyna reservoir to Krishna river and 3.00 TMC of water from Ujjani Reservoir to Bhima river to meet the drinking water needs of both humans and livestock of Northern Karnataka.
Decades-old water disputes between states
Karnataka is at loggerheads not only with Maharashtra but with neighboring Tamil Nadu. Interstate river water disputes in the south include the Cauvery issue between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and Krishna river water sharing dispute involving Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Centre, Supreme Court, High Courts, Central Water Commission, Cauvery River Management Authority (CRMA) and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) have been trying to resolve the long-standing issue but the matter is very complex and it will impact lakhs of farmers in almost all stakeholder state.
Home Minister Shah stepped in
Last year in September, Union Home Minister Amit Shah urged southern states to explore a joint solution for river water sharing issues. In his address at the 30th southern zonal council meet held here and attended by chief ministers and Lieutenant Governors of southern states and union territories, he also asked Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to mutually resolve their pending issues.
In the 30th meeting of the Southern Zonal Council held at Thiruvananthapuram in September 2022, a total of 26 issues were discussed, 9 issues were resolved, 17 issues were reserved for further consideration out of which 9 issues were related to the reorganisation of Andhra Pradesh, a statement released after the meet read.
