Water tangle: Agro-climatic condition in seven districts in Cauvery basin likely to change

The entire agro-climatic condition in the Cauvery basin area covering seven districts of Karnataka is likely to undergo a change if the contentious final award of the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal (CRDT) is implemented in toto. It is feared that the command areas under key irrigation projects of KRS, Kabini, Hemavathi and Harangi reservoirs would shrink drastically, forcing the farmers, especially those in tail-end areas, to go in for a change in crop pattern. For, the quantum of water allocated by the Tribunal to each of the major projects is far below the existing irrigation potential.