(REOPENS MDS16)

Shettar also said while the entire 'achkat' of Tamil Nadu, both within the agreement of 1924 and outside, is protected by the final order of tribunal, for Karnataka it was not done so. In spite of the findings of the various Commissions as to the availability of abundant quantity of ground water, in Cauvery Delta and Tamil Nadu's own admission of availability of 47 TMC of ground water, the Tribunal has given a finding that a minimum quantity of 20 TMC was available for use in conjunction with surface water. "But strangely enough in the final allocation the Tribunal has not accounted for even this quantity of 20 TMC in the water availability of Tamil Nadu," he contended. While assessing the drinking water requirement for Bangalore city, the Tribunal's order had taken into consideration only partial needs of the city leaving out almost two-thirds of the need. "Hence the city will face a perpetual water shortage," he said. Similar was the case while making the assessment of the needs of other cities in Karnataka like Mysore, Mandya, Hassan and Tumkur, Shettar said. He said the unallocated water of 48 TMC has been erroneously re-allocated on population basis which has drastically reduced the availability of crop water and adversely affected the ongoing projects in Karnataka.