File photo of the Almaty Dam.
Following the Andhra Pradesh government’s opposition to Karnataka’s proposal to raise the height of the Almatti dam from the current 519.6 meters to 524.26 meters – to facilitate the completion of the third phase of the Upper Krishna Project (UKP) – Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who also holds the water resources portfolio, on Tuesday urged all members of Parliament from Karnataka to exhibit approval and will issue a Gazette notice allowing the state to continue work.
In a letter to the secretary of the Jal Shakti ministry, the Andhra Pradesh government has asked the Center not to issue any notification in favor of Karnataka for increasing the height of the dam, citing that the matter is still pending in the Supreme Court.
AP and Maharashtra
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Shivakumar said that both the Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra state governments have raised objections to Karnataka’s move. With the Parliament session scheduled to begin on March 10, he appealed to state MPs to pressurize the Narendra Modi government to expedite the Gazette notification and allow the project to move forward.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that Karnataka has already spent ₹20,000 crore on the project and the state cabinet has approved the acquisition of 1.33 lakh acres of land with an estimated expenditure of ₹70,000 crore to be implemented in three phases.
“As a seasoned politician, I did not expect Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to stoop to this level to stop a project that would increase water storage capacity from 177 tmcft to 330 tmcft,” remarked Mr. Shivakumar.
In Navali
He also said that Andhra Pradesh was against Karnataka’s proposed construction of a buffer tank at Navali to address the problem of siltation of the Tungabhadra reservoir and tap 30 tmcft of Tungabhadra water. Mr. Shivakumar added that Mr. Naidu did not attend the meetings called to discuss the matter.
Mr. Shivakumar said that he would go to Delhi during the state budget session and inform the MPs and the Jal Shakti Ministry to seek approval for the UKP-III phase project.
Published – March 4, 2026 0:38 AM IST
