Kalasa-Banduri Project

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    • The Union Government has recently approved Karnataka’s Kalasa-Banduri drinking water project which is facing opposition from Goa and Maharashtra.

    More about the news

    • The Central Water Commission (CWC) has cleared the diversion of 1.72 TMC of water from the Kalasa Dam and 2.18 TMC from the Bhandura dam. 
      • This means that the project is acceptable even from an inter-state perspective. 
    • The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal, which was formed in 2010, had cleared the project in 2018 but with a lower amount of water than sought by Karnataka.

    About Kalasa-Banduri Project

    • It is a dam that has been designed to divert water from the Mhadei basin to the deficit basin of the Mala-prabha river.
    • The plan is aimed at facilitating drinking water for 13 towns in drought-hit northern Karnataka. 
      • The areas include Dharwad, Belagavi, Bagalkote and Gadag among others. 
        • These areas together make up the country’s second most arid region after Rajasthan. 

    About Mahadayi River:

    • The Mahadayi river rises in Karnataka (Western Ghats) from the Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in Khanapur taluk of Karnataka’s Belagavi district.
      • Flowing westward, it enters the north Goa districts.
      • Several streams join the flow of the river to form the Mandovi which is one of two major rivers that flow through Goa.
      • It joins the Arabian Sea at Panaji. 
    • Distribution: Of the total area, 375 sq km lies in Karnataka, 77 sq km in Maharashtra and remaining 1580 sq km is in Goa.  

    Issues

    • The allocations are made subject to the fresh preparation of Detailed Project Reports to be prepared as directed by the Tribunal and on obtaining the applicable clearances from the Union government under the Forest Conservation Act of 1981, Environment Protection Act of 1985 and others. 
      • This means still there is a lot of work to get done.
    • The project authority shall obtain all mandatory/statutory clearances as required by law mentioned in the MWDT award.
    • There are pending cases before the Supreme Court too which need to be cleared. 

    Source: TH

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