The High Court of Karnataka has directed the State government to stop water supply to Andhra Pradesh from Tungabhadra (TB) dam under the Nilakantapuram Srirama Reddy Water Project (NSRWP), till drinking water is supplied to Pavagad and adjoining areas.

Hearing a petition by Karnataka unit of the Rashtriya Kissan Sangh and 30 other organisations, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice B V Nagarathna lashed out at the State government for its inability to provide drinking water to Pavagad, Madhugiri and Sira taluks of Tumkur district.

Despite a halt on iron ore mining in Karnataka since July last year, the state government has earned a royalty revenue of Rs270 crore, about 62 per cent of the total royalty earnings in the last financial year. With two more months in the current financial year, royalty revenues are likely to go up further.

Mining activity came to a halt in July, when the Supreme Court ordered the closure of mining and transportation of iron ore in Bellary district. Subsequently, on August 26 the apex court also ordered closure of mining in Chitradurga and Tumkur districts.

Says it may direct Karnataka to stop water supply from Tungabhadra reservoir

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday warned the Andhra Pradesh Government that it may have no alternative but to direct the Karnataka Government to stop supply of water from the Tungabhadra reservoir.

Officials of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) held a meeting on Tuesday to hear the views of farmers on the proposed acquisition of land for a steel plant to be set up by the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) in Bellary taluk.

Diverse views emerged at the meeting, with some farmers stating that they would not part with their land, and others suggesting that acquisition land beyond the actual requirement be avoided. Allotment of shares and employment to families of land-losers were also suggested.

The High Court of Karnataka on Monday ordered status quo on the hydel power project of Maruthi Power Gen (India) Private Limited at Kagneri and Kenchankumari reserve forests of Sakaleshpur range in Hassan district.

The order came after a spot inspection revealed that the company had completed only 20 per cent of the work against its claim to have completed 70 per cent of the work.

The City is set to face another thirsty summer this year with 15 per cent of the work on the much-awaited Cauvery IV Stage II Phase yet to be completed.

The project, launched in November 2009, was expected to be completed by February 28, 2012. The Rs 1,766-crore project taken up by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board will supply an additional 500 million litres per day to the City. It is expected to be commissioned by June 2012.

Until three years ago, several parts of the city received water only for a couple of hours a day, activists say. But the situation has improved now for different reasons.

President of the Nagarika Hitarakshana Samithi G. Hanumanth Kamath told The Hindu that water supply and distribution had improved in the last three years and wastage has reduced because of the new water supply lines installed with funds from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan.

Fresh water from WG goes waste

Despite three rivers passing through the district, the 1.4 lakh populace of Hassan is yet to get clean drinking water. Ironically, in areas neighbouring the Western Ghats (WG), which is the source of several rivers, people have to dig more than 300 feet for groundwater.

Ensure lease holders in Karnataka do not flout rules, report tells government

The State Government should stop misleading people with regard to completion of pending irrigation projects because it is impossible to complete the Upper Krishna Project in five years even if the Government releases Rs. 10,000 crore a year, the former MLA Shivanand Patil has said.