Vijay Urges PM Modi To Reject Mekedatu Dam Proposal Ahead Of Delhi Visit

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to reject Karnataka's proposal for a dam at Mekedatu -- an area close to the border between the two states. The letter comes in response to Karnataka's move to begin Bhumi Pujan for the dam. Vijay is expected to visit Delhi soon. 

Amid the decades old controversy over Cauvery water, Karnataka plans to build a "balancing reservoir" at Mekedatu (meaning "Goat's Crossing") near Kanakapura in the Ramanagara district. But this would be in contravention to the decision of the Cauvery Water Tribunal, which has been upheld by the Supreme Court, Vijay has contended. 

Under the 2018 Supreme Court judgment, states that are upstream of Cauvery cannot build any dams or  reservoirs without the consent of the states located downstream. In this case, Karnataka will need the consent of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry to build the Mekedatu dam. 

"The Mekedatu dam is  not on the list of projects permitted by the Tribunal," which has been affirmed by the Supreme Court, Vijay wrote. 

"There is no scope for additional utilisation or for creating a huge storage reservoir, since the Cauvery basin is found to be  a deficit basion and theb available water at 50 per cent dependability has already been allocated to the  party states... Hence the  act of proposing to contruct a new reservoir by Karnataka would amount to clear violation of the said judgment," the letter read.

PM Modi should advise the Karnataka government not to take up any new project without getting the agreement of the downriver states and not violate the top court judgment, Vijay added.

Yesterday, Vijay had ordered officials to pursue legal action regarding the Mekedatu dam.

Last week, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Mekedatu project will be submitted to the Centre soon, and the groundbreaking ceremony will be held after obtaining its approval. 

"There is a clear order to release 177 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu. We will discuss how to resolve this in the coming days. The Supreme Court has ruled that Tamil Nadu has no right to object to the Mekedatu project and that the Central Water Commission must take a decision on it," Shivakumar had said. 

His comments have sparked an uproar in Tamil Nadu, with the opposition DMK declaring that Shivakumar had displayed an "arrogant attitude" by claiming Tamil Nadu had no right to raise objection over the project on river Cauvery.

"The Chief Minister (C Joseph Vijay) should strongly condemn the Karnataka deputy Chief Minister for his remarks crushing (Tamil Nadu's) rights in Cauvery river... he should thwart efforts to construct the dam in the initial phase itself," the DMK said.