Last Update: December 29, 2022, 10:24 AM IST
Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday that his government would think about tightening the laws. (File photo: PTI)
Both the states are already embroiled in a border dispute and the matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
Nagpur: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the state will ask Karnataka to stop the work of raising the height of the Almatti dam on the Krishna river till the completion of the ongoing study to assess the impact of floods in Sangli and Kolhapur.
Responding to a question in the state assembly on Wednesday, Fadnavis said he would approach the Supreme Court if the Karnataka government did not heed Maharashtra’s request.
Both the states are already embroiled in a border dispute and the matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
Fadnavis said the state government had appointed a panel headed by Nandkumar Wadnera, former principal secretary of the water resources department, to study Karnataka’s plan to increase the elevation to 524 meters and its impact on floods in Kolhapur and Sangli.
The study panel was set up after the devastating floods of 2019 in two districts of Maharashtra.
The Vadnera report, submitted on May 27, 2020, states that if the height of the Almatti and Hippargi dams on the Krishna is increased, there will be no adverse impact in Kolhapur and Sangli.
However, in September 2021, Vadnera wrote to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, stating that when the report was prepared, there was no information about the check dam in Karnataka, which could lead to floods in Kolhapur and Sangli.
“We will bring this to the notice of the Supreme Court and request Karnataka to stop the work till our study is completed, as it may have a very adverse impact on Maharashtra. In parallel, we will approach the Supreme Court to stop the work if they do not agree,” Fadnavis said.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)