New Delhi: The Cauvery water sharing has been a bone of contention between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu since the time of the British Raj. The problem of sharing the river water has not been solved till date and it seems to be a never ending issue.
Speaking on the issue, Union Water Resources and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the water resources ministry had prepared a Detailed Project Report (DPR) with an estimated cost of Rs 40,000 Crore to connect River Cauvery and River Godavari. “The project which aims at tapping Godavari backwaters, will end the water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,” Gadkari added.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Nitin Gadkari said, “Linking the two rivers will be of top priority for the next NDA government. Preparations were on to take various permissions for the mega project, but they were interrupted by the Model Code of Conduct coming into force. After elections, the government will take up the issue on priority.”
“Though the government had earlier proposed to link Ganga and Cauvery, with the idea of taking water from the Himalayan basin to the tail end of Tamil Nadu, the Centre has decided to tap the surplus water in Godavari to address the water woes in the two southern states,” he added.
Reportedly, a big project is underway in Andhra Pradesh called ‘Polavaram.’ The backwater of ‘Polavaram’ which has 1100 tmc of water is going to the sea from Godavari. The dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is for 45 tmc, and under the ‘Polavaram’ project, the backwater which is going to the sea will be diverted to Krishna, from there to Pennar and then to Cauvery. This is expected to solve the century long water dispute between the two states.
