CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Sunday asserted that if the proposed Mekedatu reservoir had been constructed, Tamil Nadu would not have received even the current inflows from Karnataka’s Kabini reservoir, alleging that the neighbouring State is diverting surplus water to other reservoirs to deny the State’s rightful share as ordered by the Cauvery authority.
He alleged that Karnataka’s water releases over the past two days had been made in an erratic manner to divert surplus water. “On Saturday, the discharge from the Kabini reservoir into the Cauvery was increased to 25,000 cusecs. It was drastically reduced to 10,000 cusecs on Sunday morning before being revised to 14,958 cusecs as inflows rose to 28,009 cusecs.”
This unpredictable pattern clearly demonstrates that Karnataka has no intention of releasing Tamil Nadu’s lawful share of water, he said. “Karnataka is diverting a major portion of the water released from Harangi to the Krishna Raja Sagara reservoir to fill it up,” he alleged, adding, “While the inflow into Harangi stands at 10,430 cusecs, 14,470 cusecs is being released towards KRS.”
He claimed that Hemavathi was expected to reach its full capacity within a week and that its surplus water would also be stored in the KRS reservoir, reflecting Karnataka’s continued refusal to release Tamil Nadu’s due share of water. “It is using Cauvery merely as a flood drainage channel to flush out surplus water,” Anbumani alleged.