Hassan: While Karnataka and Tamil Nadu continue to feud over the Cauvery river water, the Centre plans to build a mega reservoir at Polavaram in the Godavari river basin to store its excess water that presently runs into the sea and allocate both states 450 tmcft from it.
Revealing this here on Saturday, Union Minister for Surface Transport and Water Resources, Nitin Gadkari explained that when the reservoir was completed it would divert the backwaters to the river Krishna and from there to the rivers Pennar and Cauvery, benefiting both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the process.
“The Polavaram reservoir, which is being set up at a cost of Rs 80,000 crore, will help water reach the tail- end region in Tamil Nadu,” he said, adding that presently about 11,000 tmcft of water was going waste from the Godavari river basin as it ran into the sea in the absence of a reservoir to store it.
The Minister claimed that the Polavaram reservoir would also provide the solution to the water dispute between Karnataka and AP. “It will give me immense pleasure if I am able resolve the water dispute between Karnataka and TN during my term as Minister for Water Resources,” he declared.
