Overview

• On August 3, Karnataka Minister M.B. Patil publicly rejected Maharashtra’s warnings that raising the Almatti dam height would worsen flooding in Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur districts.
• He underscored the 2013 Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal order authorizing the height increase from 519.6 meters to 524.256 meters and said only a pending gazette notification remains.
• Citing the Wadnekar expert committee’s May 2020 report, Patil said backwaters from the Almatti and Hipparagi reservoirs stayed within Karnataka and did not inundate Maharashtra.
• Patil attributed recent floods to simultaneous water releases from Maharashtra’s Koyna reservoir and Rajapura barrage and to widespread encroachments on the Krishna river catchment.
• Devendra Fadnavis has urged the Union government to intervene over flood fears, but Karnataka urges resolution through institutional mechanisms.