Bengaluru, March 3 – Expressing unhappiness over Andhra Pradesh objecting to increasing the height of the Alamatti dam to 524 meters, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar urged the Centre to intervene in the matter on Tuesday.
Shivakumar, who also holds the Irrigation portfolio, said that Andhra Pradesh has written a letter to the Centre, requesting that land acquisition for the project be prohibited.
“I appeal to the Centre to intervene and allow the project to proceed according to the Tribunal’s order,” he said.
“In its letter, Andhra Pradesh has requested the Centre not to issue a Gazette notification regarding increasing the Alamatti dam from 519 meters to 524 meters, and also to stop land acquisition for the project. It is inappropriate for Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra to interfere in this matter,” he said.
He stated that in the Cabinet meeting held on September 16, 2025, it was decided to acquire 1.33 lakh acres of land for the project.
“We plan to release Rs 70,000 crore in three phases. I did not expect Andhra Pradesh to take such a step. We have been urging the Centre to issue a Gazette notification for the last 12 years. The Tribunal in 2010 had allowed increasing the water usage from 177 TMC to 330 TMC,” he explained.
“We have informed the Board that we will take our share of 30 TMC of water by building the Navile Balancing reservoir, but Andhra Pradesh has not been attending the meetings. Both states need to make a joint decision,” he said.
He said that the Parliament session would begin on March 10. Our MPs must put pressure on the Centre and protect the State’s interests. Otherwise, it will negatively affect the state’s interests.
“The Union Jal Shakthi minister is under political pressure from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. We will visit Delhi during the session. Andhra Pradesh has been getting its share of water; I don’t know why they are objecting. The Andhra CM is an experienced politician. I don’t know why he is doing this,” he said.
He is also not attending the meetings regarding the Tungabhadra. We are losing 30 TMC of water, and we are trying to harness that water through a balancing reservoir,” he expressed his unhappiness.
“We have initiated land acquisition as the cost of land is increasing, but Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are not allowing us to continue with it. We are doing land acquisition in Karnataka, not in their state. We have already spent Rs 20,000 crore for this project. When the Tribunal issued the order, our state went to the Supreme Court, and the decision was unfavorable. I don’t know who made that decision, but it is hurting us now,” he explained.
When asked if land acquisition has been approved, he said, “We have decided on it in the Cabinet. We are preparing to allocate funds in the budget.”
When it was pointed out that there was no objection to land acquisition now, he said, “We are issuing a statement in this regard before the Centre writes us a letter asking us to stop the project. The other states will go to court with that letter.”
When it was pointed out that the State could simply follow the Tribunal’s order, he said, “Nothing happens if you go through the court. Maharashtra had raised concerns about flooding, and the Centre’s report said there was no such risk. There is no stay from the Supreme Court, yet these states have moved the court.”
When it was suggested that former PM H. D. Deve Gowda’s suggestion can be obtained on the matter, he said, “His health is not good. They can do whatever is possible from their side as well.”
