BANGALORE: The State Government on Saturday rejected the suggestion of the Union Ministry for Water Resources to store water only up to 509.1 m in the Alamatti Dam across the Krishna till September 30.

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh said: "the suggestion is totally unacceptable to the Government of Karnataka and it was made absolutely clear at the meeting with the Secretary of the department on August 22." There is no truth in the Maharashtra Government's claim that floods occurred in both States because of the backwater pressure from the Alamatti Dam, he added.

Union Minister for Water Resources P.R. Dashmunsi in a letter dated August 25 had requested Mr. Dharam Singh to consider keeping the water level at the reservoir at 509.1 m till September 30 as a short-term measure.

The Chief Minister said the Government received a letter on August 30 and it mentions that the Union Government does not have the authority to decide on such issues and it should not be construed as a directive of the Centre.

Permission

The State Government has the authority and permission to retain water up to 519.60 m according to the decision of the Supreme Court and the formal approval accorded to it by the Planning Commission on December 13, 2000, Mr. Dharam Singh said.

In a two-page note to the press, the Chief Minister said he had made it clear in his letters to Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that submergence and flooding in Maharashtra was due to heavy and continuous rainfall in Satara, Kolhapur and other catchment areas and not due to the backwater pressure from the Alamtti dam. Even before the Alamatti dam was constructed, water levels had reached over 541 m near Sangli in 1964, and this had been recorded in both Sates, Mr. Dharam Singh said.

Stating that Maharashtra does not have a case either under the law in terms of equity or merit to seek the reduction of storage of water in the Almatti Dam, he said that any such reduction would seriously affect crops in lakhs of hectares in Gulbarga, Raichur, Bijapur and Bagalkot districts.

The State Government has given all technical details, data, and results of studies conducted to the Central Water Commission and Maharashtra to establish that the effects of backwater pressure dissipate within Karnataka. In contrast, Maharashtra has not shared any studies or technical viewpoints with either the commission or the State Government, the Chief Minister pointed out.

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly B.S. Yediyurappa on Friday accused the State Government of suppressing the directive issued by the Centre to reduce storage in the Alamatti Dam.

Mr. Dharam Singh said he had apprised Dr. Manmohan Singh about the damage caused to crops and public property in the State owing to floods. An all-party delegation has submitted a report seeking Rs. 3,640 crores to the Centre.

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