Vijayapura: Karnataka Minister M B Patil has questioned the legal and technical basis of Maharashtra’s proposed 40-TMC Krishna water transfer, which would divert floodwater to the Ujjani reservoir on the Bhima river. Karnataka’s water rights and the interests of the Almatti project must be protected, he said.
Summarising his remarks at a press conference in Vijayapura, Patil said the matter would be taken up with the Maharashtra and Union governments. A comprehensive examination would be carried out and necessary steps taken to ensure that Karnataka’s interests were not harmed, he said.
Patil referred to remarks by the Maharashtra Chief Minister at the India Today Conclave in Mumbai on October 9, 2026. According to Patil’s account of the proposal, floodwater would be diverted from near Mahabaleshwar for use in two districts of Marathwada and parts of Sangli and Solapur districts.
He put the proposed project’s cost at about ₹19,000 crore and said Maharashtra had sanctioned ₹24 crore to prepare a detailed project report, with a geological survey planned along an 84-km route. The DPR was expected by the end of 2026, he said. Patil also questioned the Chief Minister’s reported statements that work had already begun and that the World Bank was providing finance.
Citing the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II award, Patil said an additional 448 TMC had been apportioned as 81 TMC to Maharashtra, 173 TMC to Karnataka and 194 TMC to undivided Andhra Pradesh. He said the tribunal had earlier declined Maharashtra’s proposal to transfer 35 TMC from the Upper Krishna, or K-1, sub-basin to the Bhima, or K-5, sub-basin, because of its possible adverse effects on flows and use in K-1.
Against that background, Patil asked what legal and technical grounds supported the proposed 40-TMC transfer. He questioned whether the necessary permissions and Union government approval had been obtained while, he said, the KWDT-II award remained unnotified in the Gazette. He also sought the basis for the claimed World Bank assistance.
Patil drew a comparison with Karnataka’s Upper Krishna Project Stage-III, saying the Union government was returning its DPR on the ground that the same tribunal award had not been notified. He asked why the same standard should not apply to Maharashtra’s proposal.
Such transfers in the Upper Krishna region could affect inflows into the Almatti reservoir and water availability for downstream states, Patil cautioned. Protecting Karnataka’s water rights, the Almatti project and farmers’ interests would remain the state’s priority, he said.
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