TN CM Vijay urges PM Modi to reject Karnataka’s Mekedatu project DPR

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Tuesday, May 26, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Central Water Commission (CWC) to reject Karnataka’s Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the proposed Mekedatu reservoir project across the Cauvery river, alleging that it violated the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award and the Supreme Court’s 2018 judgment.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Vijay expressed concern over the Centre entertaining Karnataka’s proposal without considering Tamil Nadu’s objections. He also sought directions to the Karnataka government not to undertake any new project in the Cauvery basin without obtaining the concurrence of co-basin states.

The chief minister said the proposed Mekedatu project and recent statements made by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had caused anxiety among farmers in Tamil Nadu who depend on Cauvery waters for irrigation and livelihood.

Referring to the long-standing Cauvery water dispute, Vijay said the issue had been resolved after decades of legal proceedings and that the Supreme Court judgment dated February 16, 2018, was currently under implementation.

According to him, the Mekedatu project was not among the projects permitted under the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. He argued that there was no scope for additional utilisation or creation of a large storage reservoir in the Cauvery basin, which had already been identified as a deficit basin with available water allocated among the basin states.

Vijay claimed that Karnataka’s proposal to build a reservoir with a storage capacity of 67.16 TMC near the Tamil Nadu border was aimed at regulating flows from the uncontrolled catchment areas that are meant to reach Tamil Nadu under the tribunal award.

He further contended that the Supreme Court had clearly held that upper riparian states should not take actions affecting scheduled water deliveries to lower riparian states, and that constructing a new reservoir would amount to a violation of the court’s directions.

The Tamil Nadu chief minister also alleged that the Mekedatu project violated existing environmental laws and urged the Prime Minister to intervene to prevent Karnataka from proceeding with the project.

“I request you to instruct the officers concerned in the Ministry of Jal Shakti and Central Water Commission to reject the DPR of the Mekedatu project proposal,” Vijay said in the letter, while also seeking directions to Karnataka not to violate the apex court verdict.