BELAGAVI: The long-drawn boundary dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra is likely to be resolved finally when a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court takes up the final hearing of the matter on November 23.
While Maharashtra is fully prepared to assert its stand when the case comes up for hearing in November, Karnataka is yet to put up a strong position in the case. The Border Protection Committee of the state government is defunct, and no one has been named as a minister in charge of the boundary dispute since 2018. But Maharashtra has a high-powered committee headed by the chief minister besides a minister in charge of the boundary.
Sources said the state government is yet to strengthen its legal team to take up the case in the Supreme Court. Several activists, including the chairman of the Kannada Organisations Action Committee Ashok Chandargi, feel that the state government should hold an all-party meeting, and consult experts and leaders of various organisations to bolster its stand in the court.
Over the last few years, both states have been engaged in gathering information on the history, geography, and all other aspects of the area on the border to prove their stands. The Centre had earlier made several attempts to end the dispute and bring out a consensus but failed. The recommendations made by the Mehr Chand Mahajan Commission, which was constituted by the Centre a few decades ago, were not accepted by the Maharashtra government.
Sources said the Maharashtra government demands Karnataka’s 865 villages, towns and cities including Belagavi in its petition filed with the apex court, while Karnataka contends that the issue of boundary dispute does not come under the top court’s purview.