Karnataka - Bangalore   

Don't blame State, Maharashtra told

Special Correspondent

SPEAKING OUT: KPCC President M. Mallikarjun Kharge addressing a press conference at the party office in Bangalore on Thursday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: Water Resources Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge sees the hand of the Maharashtra Government in the public interest litigation filed in the Supreme Court accusing Karnataka of being responsible for the floods in that State.

Speaking to presspersons here on Thursday, Mr. Kharge noted that the Maharashtra Government has been repeating its charge against the State on the factors behind the floods. It has now gone to the extent of getting a public interest litigation filed in the court through some organisation. Maharashtra has accused Karnataka of having caused floods in Kolhapur and Sangli districts by storing excess water in the Alamatti dam. The Supreme Court has rejected the public interest litigation seeking payment of compensation by Karnataka for the floods in Maharashtra.

The main cause for the floods was the sudden and heavy discharge of water from reservoirs in Maharashtra, which has been opposing the State's plan to increase the height of the Alamatti dam to 524 metres, fearing submersion of villages in that State. The flood havoc in Kolhapur and Sangli was of the Maharashtra Government's own making. It has no moral right to blame the State, he said.

Officials of the Water Resources Department participated in a meeting called by the Union Ministry of Water Resources in New Delhi and clarified the State's stand and convinced the Centre, he said. The State had maintained that the flooded areas in Maharashtra were all located at a height of 539 meters above sea level. Thus, it is not the storage in the dam that resulted in flooding in Maharashtra but the release of water from reservoirs there, he said.

Rehabilitation

Mr. Kharge said the State Government will take up rehabilitation work in the flood-affected areas in Belgaum, Bagalkot and other districts after the rains stop. The State is expecting more assistance from the Centre, he added.

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