Ready to go to jail over Mekedatu, says PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss

CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday urged the Tamil Nadu government to convene an all-party meeting and lead a delegation to New Delhi to press the Centre against Karnataka's proposed Mekedatu dam project, asserting that he was prepared to go to jail to protect the State's Cauvery water rights.

Anbumani is on a four-day rally from Biligundu to the Delta region against the Mekedatu dam construction by Karnataka, and on Saturday he visited the Grand Anicut (Kallanai) and expressed grief after witnessing poor water storage. He told the reporters that the Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has been maintaining that the Mekedatu dam would benefit only Tamil Nadu.

"While Karnataka Chief Minister initiates all sorts of steps in constructing the Mekedatu Dam, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is very busy in 'purchasing' MLAs and concentrates more on horse trade”, Anbumani charged.

Questioning Karnataka's justification that the project was intended to meet Bengaluru's drinking water needs, he said the city required only about 5 TMC of water and asked why Karnataka was seeking to build a reservoir with a much larger storage capacity. He alleged that Karnataka was making determined efforts to push ahead with the project despite strong objections from Tamil Nadu.

Anbumani urged Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to immediately convene an all-party meeting and lead a delegation of MPs and MLAs to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Jal Shakti Minister. If the Centre failed to intervene, he said, all political parties should jointly organise protests in New Delhi.

"I am ready to participate in any agitation to protect Cauvery water. I am even prepared to go to jail to stop the Mekedatu dam," he said.

Warning of the project's consequences, Anbumani claimed that the dam would aggravate water scarcity in the Cauvery delta, reduce agricultural activity and severely affect farmers' livelihoods. He also called for a mass public movement, similar to the Jallikattu protests, to safeguard Tamil Nadu's rights over the Cauvery waters.