‘Maharashtra’s objection on Alamatti dam height baseless’

Bengaluru: Karnataka Industries Minister M B Patil on Friday dismissed Maharashtra’s claim that raising the height of the Alamatti dam on the Krishna river would cause floods in Sangli and Kolhapur districts. Asserting that this argument has already been rejected by the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal, the Supreme Court, and even in the Lok Sabha, he termed Maharashtra’s objection as “politically motivated”.

The Minister was reacting to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis requesting the Union government to stop Karnataka from raising the height of Almatti Dam on the Krishna river, saying it would worsen the floods in southern Maharashtra’s Sangli and Kolhapur districts.

“Sangli and surrounding regions in Maharashtra witnessed severe floods in 1964, 1976, 1994 and 1997 — all before the construction of the Alamatti dam. Moreover, as early as the year 2000, the Supreme Court had ruled that Karnataka is entitled to raise the height of the dam to 524.256 metres,” Patil, who had served as the Water Resources Minister in the past, said.