Context:
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister said the State government is ready to resolve river water-sharing disputes between neighbouring States.
Mekedatu Dam Project:
- It is a multipurpose project involving the construction of a balancing reservoir in Ramanagara (Karnataka).
- Mekedatu (meaning goat’s leap) is a deep gorge situated at the confluence of the rivers Cauvery and its tributary Arkavathi.
- Primary objective – To provide drinking water to Bengaluru and neighboring areas.
River Cauvery (Kaveri):
- Other Name: ‘Ponni’ in Tamil.
- Origin: Talakaveri on the Brahmagiri Hills (Western Ghats)
- Extension of Cauvery basin: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry
- Tributaries:
- Left Bank: Arkavathi, Hemavathi, Shimsa, and Harangi.
- Right Bank: Lakshmantirtha, Suvarnavati, Noyil, Bhavani, Kabini, and Amaravathi.
Kalasa-Banduri Nala Project:
- It is a dam that has been designed to divert water from the Mhadei basin to the deficit basin of the Mala-prabha river.
- Aim – To facilitate drinking water for 13 towns in drought-hit northern Karnataka which include Dharwad, Belagavi, Bagalkote and Gadag among others.
- It involves building across Kalasa and Banduri, two tributaries of the Mahadayi river to divert water to the Malaprabha river (a tributary of Krishna river).
Mahadayi River:
- Origin: Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary (Western Ghats), Belagavi district of Karnataka.
- It is joined by a number of streams to form the Mandovi which is one of two major rivers that flows through Goa.
- Basin States: Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka.
- It joins the Arabian Sea at Panaji.
Source: The Hindu