Bengaluru: The state government on Wednesday decided to be flexible in its approach while holding negotiations with Maharashtra and Goa governments on the Mahadayi river water sharing issue.
After a meeting with leaders of all the political parties here, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters that the government will have an open mind during the negotiations. “We will attend the meeting in the spirit of give and take. We will not be rigid in our stand. We want the issue to be resolved through talks,” he stated.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has convened the meeting following a suggestion by the Mahadayi River Water Disputes Tribunal to all the riparian states to try resolving the issue through talks. The Tribunal had in July this year rejected Karnataka’s plea seeking 7 tmcft of water from the Mahadayi river for Kalasa-Banduri drinking water project.
The negotiation meeting that was scheduled to be held on October 21 in Mumbai at 12 noon has been postponed. However, Siddaramaiah was not aware of the meeting being postponed when he briefed the media around 9 pm at the Vidhana Soudha. Offficial sourcessaid that Siddaramaiah received a communication from his Maharashtra counterpart that the meeting has been postponed as the Goa chief minister is not well.
Siddaramaiah said Karnataka has approached the Tribunal seeking 36.558 tmcft of the Mahadayi water for irrigation, drinking water and power generation requirements. Of the total yield of 199.6 tmcft (with 75% dependability), about 44.15 tmcft of the river water is generated in Karnataka. Negotiations will be held for 36.558 tmcft. Currently, almost the entire river water is going to the sea, he added.
Leaders of the BJP and the JD(S) suggested that the government have an open mind at the meeting convened by Fadnavis. All the political parties have welcomed the Tribunal’s suggestions to hold talks. The government will hold a meeting with its legal and technical teams before attending the meeting, Siddaramaiah said.