BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the government will take appropriate action for the proper utilisation of 27 tmcft of water being wasted in the Tungabhadra reservoir due to silt. For this, the government is thinking of constructing a Navali parallel reservoir and an alternate project to utilise water through pumping, he said.
In his reply to MLC Basanagouda Badarli’s question about the steps taken to construct the Navali reservoir due to silt formation in the Tungabhadra dam, Shivakumar, who is also the Water Resources Minister, said, “Our officials have given an alternative idea instead of building a balanced dam. We are thinking of pumping and using our share of water. This will benefit three states. We will use 65 per cent of water, and they 35 per cent. We will submit proposals to the Centre. We are committed to protecting our share of water,” he said.
He further added that the Union Jal Shakti Minister called representatives of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for a discussion on the Pennar river issue, and the construction of the Navali dam and alternative solutions will be also be discussed then.
“I have spoken to the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on this issue and have also written a letter. I had discussed this project with the water resources ministers of the two states also at a conference in Udaipur and had called the AP CM (N Chandrababu Naidu) and asked him to give me time to demonstrate and discuss this project.
I had said that after discussing with the two states, I would submit a report on these projects to the Tungabhadra Board. The AP CM said he would discuss this issue,” Shivakumar informed.
He also informed the Council that about 25-30 tmcft water was wasted due to silt in the Tungabhadra dam. About 15,000 acres of land is required for the construction of a balanced dam. Technical reports have already been prepared in this regard, along with a DPR. It has also been sent to the Tungabhadra Board and the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.