Borders on fire: Karnataka's friction with each of its neighbours

Over the years, several people have lost their lives and properties have been damaged on both sides of the border in clashes over the dispute.
Earlier, protests over the Mahadayi issue had brought people of the region together. (Photo | EPS)
Earlier, protests over the Mahadayi issue had brought people of the region together. (Photo | EPS)

Karnataka is not in an enviable position, vis-a-vis its neighbouring states. The kidney-shaped South Indian state has interstate border, water-sharing or pandemic-related disputes with every one of its six neighbours Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The New Sunday Express takes a closer look at these disputes.

Border dispute with Maharashtra

Since the reorganisation of states in 1956, Maharashtra has claimed several Karnataka border areas, like Belagavi, Bidar, Bhalki, Nipani, Khanapur, etc (more than 250 villages, towns and cities), citing lack of justice, and saying these “Marathi-majority” areas should have been merged with Maharashtra.
Pro-Maharashtra leaders in Belagavi launched Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) soon after the reorganisation of states.

The Centre constituted the Mehar Chand Mahajan Commission to resolve the dispute in the early 1960s, and it recommended the transfer of 268 villages, towns and cities of Karnataka to Maharashtra, including Nandagad, Nipani and Khanapur. It also suggested the transfer of 248 villages, towns and cities of Maharashtra to Karnataka, including Solapur, Jath and Akkalkot. But Maharashtra refused to accept the report.

Over the years, several people have lost their lives and properties have been damaged on both sides of the border in clashes over the dispute.

In 2014, Maharashtra moved the Supreme Court, demanding that the State’s Reorganisation Act be declared null and void while staking claim mainly for Belagavi city. Karnataka pleaded saying Art 3 of the Constitution that empowers Parliament to take a final decision on issues relating to state’s boundaries should be upheld.

The SC will first hear Karnataka’s petition that the boundary dispute does not come under the purview of courts and only Parliament can take a decision on it.

In Belagavi, many MES candidates have become mayors over the years. From 1957 to 1998, all MLAs who won from the Belagavi constituency were supported by MES. But in the last two decades, it has lost its significance.

From six to seven MLAs it used to win in the Assembly elections, it failed to win a single seat in the last three Assembly elections. Kannada leaders Shivangouda Patil and Srinivas Talukar are optimistic that Maharashtra’s claims will not materialise as the state’s boundaries were drawn taking all factors into consideration.

Krishna dispute with Maharashtra

The Krishna river water dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra keeps raising its head. From 2004 to 2016, the State Government has paid over Rs 20 crore to Maharashtra to get around 2-4 tmcft of water each year.

But over the last five years, the Maharashtra government is demanding an MoU with Karnataka, for sharing of river waters, asking the latter to supply 2 tmcft of water in summer to Jath and surrounding areas.

Karnataka has agreed to provide land and asked Maharashtra to develop infrastructure to supply water at its own cost, which will be around Rs 300 crore.

But Maharashtra wants Karnataka to develop the infrastructure and hand it over to them. Karnataka should be cautious while signing the MoU with Maharashtra, warns irrigation activist Ashok Chandargi.

Cauvery, water of contention between Karnataka, TN

The KRS dam completed in 1920 in the then princely state of Mysore and built across Cauvery river is the lifeline of both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. But the conflict over Cauvery waters between the two states over using surplus water is older than the reservoir.

The 1991 Cauvery riots drew national attention and compelled the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal. Karnataka filed a special leave petition challenging the tribunal’s award in the Supreme Court.

In 2018, the apex court reduced the allocation to Tamil Nadu from 419 tmcft to 404.25 tmcft, while allocating Karnataka 284.74 tmcft, including an additional 14.75 tmcft. Karnataka plans to build the Mekedatu balancing reservoir at Rs 9,000 crore which has been opposed by Tamil Nadu. Karnataka says the reservoir will generate hydel power and also meet the drinking water needs of Benglauru, Ramanagar and other neighbouring districts.

In the run-up to Assembly elections slated for April 6, Tamil Nadu launched a Rs 9,000 crore Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar river-linking project to divert surplus water from Cauvery to southern districts.

TN Chief Minister Edapalli Palaniswamy has said that the project’s aim is to recharge groundwater and not to increase the area of cultivation.  Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the government has decided to challenge the project legally. 

Mahadayi problem with Goa 

The dispute over sharing of Mahadayi river (‘Mandovi’ in Goa) waters dates back to the 1980s when Karnataka proposed to build dams and canals to divert waters to Malaprabha basin and provide relief to water-scarce districts of Bagalkot, Gadag, Dharwad and Belagavi. Goa moved the Supreme Court against these projects in 2006 and succeeded in getting the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal set up on November 16, 2010.

The tribunal halted Karnataka projects, but by then, the state had already spent over Rs 100 crore on constructing Kalasa Nala under the Kalasa-Banduri project.

Even with the Tribunal’s final award in favour of Karnataka on August 14, 2018, the Centre is still delaying a grant of wildlife and environment clearance for Kalasa-Banduri project.

Awarding 13.42 tmcft of Mahadayi water to Karnataka, the tribunal allowed the state to take 5.5 tmcft of water for drinking purposes and another 8.02 tmcft for hydro-electric power generation. Karnataka had demanded 36.55 tmcft, including 7.56 tmcft for drinking water purposes.

Soon after the tribunal announced its award in 2018, Goa filed a contempt plea before the Supreme Court against Karnataka, alleging that Karnataka is illegally diverting water through Kalasa nala at Kankumbi.

A month ago, the apex court ordered setting up of a Joint Inspection Committee, comprising a member each from Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa. The committee visited Kankumbi and will submit a report to the apex court within a week. Karnataka is confident that the Centre will give permission once the committee gives the report.

The three states have also separately moved the Supreme Court, challenging the final award of the tribunal, claiming a higher share of water. The court is yet to deal with these petitions.

Karnataka’s counsel in the Supreme Court, Mohan Katarki, says more measures are needed by the state government to get all the cases pertaining to the inter-state water disputes resolved in the Supreme Court and various tribunals. 

Activist Ashok Chandargi from Belagavi is confident that the Centre will grant permission for Mahadayi project, rubbishing Goa’s claims that Karnataka is diverting water from Kalasa nala. Already, a big wall to check the flow of water from Mahadayi was constructed as per the court’s order a decade ago on Kalasa nala, he added.

The 60-year-long dispute with Andhra Pradesh, Telangana 

The six-decade-long dispute between Karnataka and united Andhra Pradesh over Krishna river water sharing is yet to see an amicable solution. Seven years after a tribunal, led by Chief Justice Brijesh Kumar, pronounced its award, Karnataka is still fighting to get it published in the gazette.

In 2013, the tribunal permitted increasing the height of Almatti Dam to 524 metres from 519.6m, which would increase water storage from 123 tmcft to 173 tmcft.

The tribunal also awarded 1,005 tmcft to united Andhra Pradesh, 999 tmcft to Karnataka and around 600 tmcft to Maharashtra. After Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were formed, both states moved the Supreme Court seeking revision of allocation in 2014.

Opposing the petitions, Karnataka’s argument before the tribunal was that it is an internal matter of Andhra and Telangana and they should settle it among themselves. 

Irrigation activist Ashok Chandargi says, “The state government should pressure the Centre for an early hearing at the apex court and get the tribunal award published in the gazette. But it is impossible to find an amicable solution as every party and chief minister is fighting in the interest of their own states. This dispute is affecting the Upper Krishna Project-III phase.”

Covid-related tiff with Kerala 

Dakshina Kannada district shares a deep cultural bond with Kasaragod in Kerala. But the fear associated with Covid and measures taken by the respective state governments to check the spread of the pandemic has not only affected normal life in border districts but also the decades-old cordial relationship between the two states.

Although months have passed since the lockdown was lifted, life along the border is yet to return to normal.

A majority of north Kerala students and labourers depend on Mangaluru for studies and work but are unable to travel as passenger trains are yet to resume because of a high number of Covid cases in Kerala. Rakesh Pai, a BCom student at a private college in Mangaluru, says he has been missing classes for three days a week as he cannot afford to travel by bus every day from Uppala, a major town in Kasaragod district of Kerala.

“The bus fare is thrice that of train fare. If trains are not resumed soon, I will be forced to join a college at Uppala from next academic year,” he says.

Nearly three lakh people cross the border from both sides for work, education and health every day. But restrictions during the lockdown crippled life in Kasaragod. Several ambulances were sent back from the border — causing two deaths. When cases peaked in Dakshina Kannada, even Kerala resorted to similar tactics.

B Mahalingeshwara, a Kannada activist in Kasaragod, says “There was almost no barrier of a state border. Now, it is visible after the pandemic. The matter should have been dealt with sensibly.” 
Inputs from:  Naushad Bijapur/Belagavi; K Shivakumar/Mysuru; Vincent D’Souza/Mangaluru; Mahesh Goudar/ Bagalkot/Vijayapura; Ramkrishna Badseshi/Kalaburagi; Kiran Balannanavar/Ballari

Language does not unite but divides

Since 1956, Maharashtra has been demanding that border areas including Belagavi, Bidar and Bhalki be merged with it. Clashes have been breaking out between Marathi-speaking groups and Kannadigas. The Maharashtra government, under Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, has appealed to the Supreme Court to merge these areas with that state. 

Battle royale: Four states, one river

The Krishna River originates in Maharashtra and flows through Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana before culminating at the Bay of Bengal. Karnataka has paid Maharashtra Rs 20 crore per year from 2004-2016 to get 2-4 tmcft of water.

Maharashtra has now demanded that an MoU be signed over the water-sharing arrangement. Even Karnataka’s Telugu-speaking neighbours have been fighting over this river for the past 60 years even after a tribunal has published its award. 

Mahadayi row: the  muddy waters 

Goa and Karnataka have been at loggerheads over this river since the 1980s when the latter proposed to build dams to divert waters to Malaprabha basin and provide relief to the districts of Bagalkot, Gadag, Dharwad and Belagavi. The two states have been slugging it out by filing plea and counter-plea in the apex court.

Tug of war with Tamil Nadu over Cauvery 

The Cauvery River is a lifeline for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu but a lot of bad blood has been spilled over its waters. When riots broke out in 1991 over the river, the Centre consituted the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal. However, with Assembly polls round the corner in TN, its plans to divert excess water has raised Karnataka’s hackles.

Out of the pan-demic into the fire

Despite Dakshina Kannada district and Kasaragod in Kerala sharing a deep cultural bond, the Covid-19 pandemic has turned things sour between Karnataka and its southern neighbour. The stringent measures placed by both the governments to keep the spread of the virus in check have made things difficult for people living in the border area.

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