State will not permit Mekedatu: Pandiarajan

“We have convened a special assembly session on Thursday and a resolution demanding the Central Government to cancel the permission given for Karnataka to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) would be passed,” Pandiarajan said, while speaking to reporters at Poonamallee.

Minister for Higher Education K P Anbazhagan also said that the State Government will wage a legal battle and ensure that the reservoir is not constructed.

Tamil Nadu has been involved in a long-drawn battle with the Karnataka government over the Cauvery river water issue as well as the Mekedatu project.

The Central Water Commission had recently granted permission for Karnataka to prepare the DPR for constructing the dam, following which Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to cancel the permission.

Even in the recent meeting of Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), Tamil Nadu officials had raised the issue. They were informed that the permission given was only for preparing the DPR and not for constructing the dam.

However, the Tamil Nadu government has been insisting on the project to be cancelled stating that it is against the Supreme Court order.

Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) chief S Ramadoss on Wednesday demanded the State Government extend the special session of the assembly convened today over the Mekedatu issue. “There are several other burning issues in Tamil Nadu such as Sterlite and the Chennai-Salem eight lane expressway project. The State Government should extend the special session to discuss these issues,” he said in an official statement. Meanwhile, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) deputy general secretary and RK Nagar MLA TTV Dhinakaran has said that the assembly needs to be convened to discuss any issue. 

“I have already stressed that the government should have passed a law on the Sterlite controversy but there has been no such action taken so far,” Dhinakaran said, adding that he, however, will participate in the special session and support any resolution passed on the Mekedatu row.