D.K. Shivakumar urges Karnataka MPs to put pressure on Centre to seek approval to raise Almatti dam height

Following the Andhra Pradesh government’s opposition to Karnataka’s proposal to raise the height of the Almatti dam from the present 519.6 metres to 524.26 metres — to facilitate completion of the third phase of the Upper Krishna Project (UKP) — Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who also holds the Water Resources portfolio, on Tuesday urged all members of Parliament from Karnataka to exert pressure on the Union government to grant necessary approvals and issue a Gazette notification permitting the State to proceed with the work.

In a letter to the Secretary of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the Andhra Pradesh government requested the Centre not to issue any notification in favour of Karnataka for raising the dam height, citing that the matter is still under consideration before the Supreme Court.

A.P. and Maharashtra

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Shivakumar said that both Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra governments have raised objections to Karnataka’s move. With the Parliament session scheduled to commence on March 10, he appealed to the State’s MPs to pressure the Narendra Modi government to expedite the Gazette notification enabling the project to move forward.

The Deputy Chief Minister said Karnataka has already spent ₹20,000 crore on the project, and the State Cabinet has approved the acquisition of 1.33 lakh acres of land, with an estimated expenditure of ₹70,000 crore to be implemented in three phases.

“Being an experienced politician, I did not expect Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to stoop to this level to stall a project that would increase the water storage capacity from 177 tmcft to 330 tmcft,” Mr. Shivakumar remarked.

At Navali

He also stated that Andhra Pradesh is opposing Karnataka’s proposed construction of a balancing reservoir at Navali, intended to address the siltation problem at the Tungabhadra reservoir and to utilise 30 tmcft of Tungabhadra water. Mr. Shivakumar added that Mr. Naidu has not been attending meetings convened to discuss the issue.

Mr. Shivakumar said he would go to Delhi during the State Budget session and apprise MPs and the Jal Shakti Ministry to seek approval for the UKP-III phase project.