Rs 24,000-crore estimation to meet City’s water needs

Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) Minister S Suresh Kumar has evinced interest in a plan prepared by the Centre for Policies and Practices (CPP), an NGO, to solve the growing demand for water in the City.

Shortage of water is not due to lack of water but due to its mismanagement, the Samiti members said here on Monday.

Projects not implemented: According to them, Karnataka received 725 tmc ft of water under , which should be enough for small, medium and large irrigation projects; but they aren’t being implemented, specifically the Upper Krishna project.

The Supreme Court on Monday again refused to hear a plea of the Tamil Nadu government seeking a direction to the Karnataka Government restraining it from drawing extra water from Cauvery basin reservoirs.

A bench of Justices D K Jain and A R Dave told C S Vaidyanathan, counsel for the Tamil Nadu government, to mention the matter again on Friday for hearing the application.

Tamil Nadu is repeatedly requesting the Centre to advise Kerala to conclude an agreement on sharing of the Neyyar river water and release it to the State, pending finalisation of the agreement, according to Public Works Minister K.V. Ramalingam.

Apprising the Assembly on Friday of various steps taken by the government for securing water for 9,200 acres of ayacut in Vilavancode taluk of the Kanyakumari district, the Minister said that the State had, using toposheets of the Union government,

The State government has planned to carry out six projects of inter-linking of rivers in the State at a total cost of Rs. 9,015 crore as part of its efforts to achieve optimal utilisation of water resources.

Stating this while initiating a debate in the Assembly on the demands for grants of the Public Works Department, PWD Minister K.V. Ramalingam explained the rationale behind the formulation of the projects.

Bench directs PWD to file a status report by April 24

A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court Bench here seeking a direction to forbear the Public Works Department (PWD) and Collectors of Karur, Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts from quarrying sand along the stretches of rivers Cauvery and Kollidam.

Is Tamil Nadu heading for a major standoff with Karnataka on the Cauvery river water issue this summer? Perhaps, yes should be the answer if one were to go by the water level in reservoirs in the Cauvery basin of both states.

Add to that the statements of Karnataka leaders who do not want a single drop of water to be given to Tamil Nadu this summer.

Amid protests from local politicians, an illegal dyeing unit was demolished by a team of revenue officials and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) personnel at Venanthur town – located more