Tamil Nadu Stands Firm Against Mekedatu Project

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Tuesday expressed surprise over the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the CWC entertaining Karnataka's proposal for the Mekedatu project, without considering Tamil Nadu's plea.

He requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to instruct officials concerned to reject the DPR prepared by Karnataka, as it contravened the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and also the Supreme Court judgment.

Also, PM Modi should advise the Karnataka government not to take up any new project without getting the concurrence of co-basin states and not to violate the apex court judgment, he said.

In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, Vijay said the announcement for the 'Bhoomi Puja' of the Mekedatu reservoir across Cauvery river and utterances of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar have caused a lot of concern among the lakhs of farmers of Tamil Nadu, who depend on the Cauvery for their livelihood.

''You may be well aware that a solution to the sensitive Cauvery water dispute was obtained after a long legal battle, lasting about three decades, and the judgment dated February 16, 2018, is under implementation,'' the CM said.

According to him, the Mekedatu project was not in the list of projects permitted by the Tribunal, and there was no scope for additional utilisation or for creating a huge storage reservoir, since the Cauvery basin was found to be a deficit basin and the available water at 50 per cent dependability has already been allocated to the party states.

Therefore, planning any new project across Cauvery or its tributaries, other than those specifically permitted by the Tribunal in its final award as affirmed by the Supreme Court in its judgment dated February 16, 2018, would tantamount to interfering with the said judgment.

''Tamil Nadu is of the firm view that by proposing a new Mekedatu Project with a storage capacity of 67.16 TMC just upstream of the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, Karnataka is attempting to prevent the flows generated in the uncontrolled catchment, one of the 3 components from which the flows are to be ensured to Tamil Nadu, according to the final award as modified by judgment of the Supreme Court,'' he said.

Further, the court held that the upper riparian state shall not take any action so as to affect the scheduled deliveries of water to the lower riparian state. Hence, the act of proposing to construct a new reservoir by Karnataka would amount to clear violation of the said judgment, he argued.

Vijay further claimed that Karnataka's attempt to proceed with the Mekedatu dam project was a ''blatant violation of the existing environmental laws, also.''.

''I request you to instruct the officers concerned in the Ministry of Jal Shakti, and Central Water Commission to reject the DPR of Mekedatu project proposal, as it is in contravention to the final Award of CWDT and Supreme Court judgment. Also advise Karnataka not to take up any new project without getting the concurrence of co-basin states and not to violate the court verdict,'' the Chief Minister said in the letter.

(With inputs from agencies.)