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BENGALURU: Karnataka may consider starting a new project in the Cauvery basin to counter Tamil Nadu’s claim over surplus water of the river. Water resources minister Ramesh Jarkiholi and law minister Basavaraj Bommai will convene a high-level meeting on Friday and the proposal for a new project is likely to feature in the discussions. The issue will also be discussed at an all-party meeting in March.

Recently, Tamil Nadu announced a river interlinking project with the aim of using excess Cauvery flow, creating more complications in the interstate dispute over water sharing. Officials said that Karnataka might think of a similar scheme and form a committee to draw up the master plan.

“We are looking at multiple options. One idea is to build a project exclusively for using the surplus water,” said a senior official in the water resources department. Karnataka has already proposed the Mekedatu project to utilise 65 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water. Drinking water facilities for Bengaluru and surrounding districts and a dedicated power station for the state capital are part of this plan.

Experts say the Cauvery tribunal award issued in 2007 and the Supreme Court’s 2018 verdict on the interstate row did not cover the issue of surplus water and this has partly led to the current situation. According to the court’s order, the lower riparian state of Tamil Nadu should get 419 tmcft of water in the Cauvery basin and Karnataka 270 tmcft. While the court considered 50 per cent dependability of water, it did not spell out what should be done with excess water. There is no clarity over the quantum of excess water either as it depends on the monsoon. “They (relevant forums) have not distributed the surplus water of Cauvery, unlike in the Krishna water dispute. This has resulted in a fight between states. To avoid this, states should seek clarification from the apex court. They can also urge the Centre to refer the matter to the common tribunal,” said irrigation expert Captain Raja Rao.

The lawyers representing Karnataka contend that the verdict was in the state’s favour. “Karnataka has all the rights to use surplus water available in its territory. The only obligation in the judgement is to ensure 177.25 tmcft goes to Tamil Nadu in a normal year,” said senior counsel Mohan Kataraki.

Jarkiholi said that the issue of a new project would be discussed at Friday’s meeting. “We may use one or all options,” he added.