Ending a long pending water dispute, the Mahadayi River Water Tribunal on Tuesday ruled that Karnataka will get 13.4 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water from the river, while Goa and Maharashtra will be allowed to use 24 TMC and 1.33 TMC of water respectively.
In a 12-volume judgment, the Tribunal said the equitable distribution of Mahadayi waters among three states is 'neither necessary nor feasible' at this stage.
"In the absence of any apportionment of water amongst the party states, the activities related to water resources development for the benefit of the society must not stop and people of the party state must not suffer," the tribunal observed while passing the order.
For Karnataka, the Tribunal said against its demand of 36.558 TMC of water from Mahadayi, the state will be allowed to utilise 13.4 TMC of water. Out of this, the state has been permitted to divert 2.18 TMC of Mahadayi water at proposed Bhandura dam and 1.72 TMC of water at proposed Kalasa dam subject to certain conditions.
Karnataka will also get 1.5 TMC of water for in-basin use for irrigation and water supply and 8.02 TMC for generating power at the Mahadayi Hydro Electrictity Project, it added.
In case of Goa, the Tribunal said the state will get 24 TMC of water against its demand of 122 TMC. This would be over and above the existing utilisation of 9.395 TMC by the state.
For Maharasthra, the Tribunal ruled that the state will get 1.33 TMC of water from Mahadayi river against teh demand of 6.5 TMC.
Out of this, the state has been asked to revise features of the Virdi Large MI Project and prepare a modified detailed project report (DPR) to utilize a maximum 0.56 TMC of water for various purposes within the basin.
The Tribunal has permitted 0.77 TMC of water for four minor irrigation projects namely Moachi Rai, Virdi B, Dhangarwadi and Ambadgaon.
Reacting to the development, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said: "I am happy that the Mhadei (Mahadayi) Tribunal with its final verdict has done justice to Goa."
"I thank the legal team and everyone who have fought relentlessly for protecting our lifeline Mhadei," said Parrikar who is in the US for medical treatment.
Noting that Karnataka has succeeded partly, advocate for the state Mohan Katarki said: "The Tribunal should have considered allocation of more water to Karnataka."
After studying the voluminous judgement, the state will take the next course of action of either appealing before the Supreme Court or filing reference for explanation or guidance before the Tribunal, he said.
The present level of utilization of waters of Mahadayi river basin is not more than 5 per cent of the water availability at 75 per cent dependability.
The Tribunal mentioned that the projection of future requirements of waters of Mahadayi river basin by the respective states for various purposes is not fully justified as the estimates are not based on adequate and consistent data/information or scientific research and studies, and are without proper evaluation and consideration of social, economic and ecological issues.
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