Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (DC)

Bengaluru, Aug 14: The Mahadayi River Water Tribunal on Tuesday ended 50-year-old water dispute with Goa and ruled that Karnataka will get 13.5 TMC feet of water from the Mahadayi. Karnataka will get additional 5 TMC water from Goa.

In its verdict on Tuesday, the tribunal has allotted 5.5 TMC feet water to the Mumbai-Karnataka region for drinking purposes, 8.2 TMC for power generation, 1.12 TMC and 2.18 TMC for Kalasa and Banduri streams, respectively. Following this verdict, Hubli-Dharwad twin city and over 150 villages in the region are likely to get Mahadayi water for drinking.
Goa had maintained in its argument that its population heavily depends on the Mahadayi water and had also expressed fears that Karnataka would stock water to irrigate other regions of the state.

The decade-long dispute between Goa and Karnataka had led to bitter battle of words. The opposition BJP and ruling JDS-Congress combine in Karnataka have been at loggerheads over this issue, in which Maharashtra is also a party.

The matter was referred to a tribunal set up by the Congress-led UPA-2 in 2010 after the three states failed to resolve the issue amicably.

Meanwhile, the Mahadayi Horata Samithi welcomed the ruling pronounced by retired Justice JM Panchal in New Delhi and claimed that justice has finally been done to the people of Karnataka.

BJP leader and MP Shobha Karandlaje too hailed the verdict and demanded that the Karnataka government takes up the irrigation projects in Mahadayi immediately.