Coalition politics has set off a whirlpool in a muddy, unknown stream of Kolar district of Karnataka that otherwise barely raises a ripple.The Central Water Commission (CWC) team that had come to inspect the Paragodu dam project built by Karnataka over the Chitravati stream — following objections by the TDP government of Andhra Pradesh, an NDA ally — has concluded that there is scope on the part of Karnataka to revise the parameters of the project by reducing its height.The observations are bound to evoke protests from Karnataka, especially as the CWC team had chosen to visit Andhra Pradesh first, though it had been invited by Karnataka.In his observations, CWC member S.K. Das has told Union Water Resources Secretary A.K. Goswami: ‘‘In order to reconcile the differences between the two state governments, Chairman, CWC, would call a meeting of the principal secretaries of the two concerned states during the last week of June.’’Though Das has refrained from apportioning blame on anyone, the thrust of the Central team’s argument is that while the Paragodu project was planned for both drinking water as well as irrigation purposes, it is now being used only for storage purposes.
