Tamil Nadu house opposes Mekedatu plan

The Tamil Nadu Government convened a special Assembly session to pass a resolution to urge the Centre to direct the Central Water Commission to withdraw the recent permission granted to Karnataka to construct a reservoir across the Cauvery at Mekedatu.
The resolution, passed unanimously in the Assembly, also sought the Centre to restrain Karnataka from carrying out any dam-related preparation activities across the Cauvery.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami told the Assembly that the government would stand by the earlier resolutions passed in December 2014 and March 2015 to oppose Karnataka’s moves to construct a dam at Mekedatu. He urged the Ministry of Water Resources to “order the Central Water Commission to withdraw the permission granted to Karnataka”.

DMK treasurer and Deputy Leader of the Opposition Durai Murugan and DMK Chief MK Stalin had enquired about the results of the earlier resolutions against the reservoir, and questioned the need for another reservoir across the Cauvery.

Stalin pointed out in the Assembly that the Cauvery Water Management Authority does not have any permanent members even six months after it was set up. “We have supported the resolution in the interests of the people of Tamil Nadu and our support is beyond the realm of politics,” he said after the Assembly session. He had pitched for discussions on Cyclone Gaja, but it was not accepted in the Assembly.

Differences between the riparian states over Cauvery have come to the fore again, ten months after the Supreme Court gave a modified final order on how the water should be shared between the states.

The CWC had, on November 22, allowed Karnataka to prepare a report on the ?5,912-crore Mekedatu reservoir. In its approval to the Cauvery Neeravari Nigama, the Central Water Commission has informed the state that a Detailed Project Report (DPR) needs to be approved by the Cauvery Water Management Authority, which was set up by the Centre after Tamil Nadu moved the SC with a contempt petition against the Centre’s inaction to the February 2018 Supreme Court directions. Tamil Nadu had moved the Supreme Court last week with a petition to restrain Karnataka from going ahead with the DPR.

The Tamil Nadu Government had, on Wednesday, filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against the Central Water Commission, Water Resources Ministry and Karnataka state agencies for violating the final Cauvery dispute award in February 2018.

On Thursday, Karnataka Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar had written to Palaniswami seeking an appointment to explain details of the Mekedatu reservoir, as part of the efforts to “clear misconceptions” and have an “amicable solution” to the standoff. Responding to Shivakumar’s letter, Tamil Nadu Law Minister C. Ve. Shanmugam said the state rules out any dialogue amid the ongoing litigation in the Supreme Court.