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Reject Mekedatu plan, CM urges Centre
In two different DO letters, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday urged the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and the ministry of Jal Shakthi (MoJS) to direct the expert appraisal committee for river valley and hydroelectric projects to ‘reject outright the proposal of Karnataka’ to go ahead with its proposed Mekedatu project.
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Chennai
The letters stated: “On June 24, I had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his personal intervention to deny permission to the proposal of dam across Cauvery river. But, it has been brought to my notice that the expert appraisal committee has included the proposal of Karnataka for grant of terms of reference to Mekedatu dam in its meeting scheduled to be held on July 19.
“The action of the committee to include the proposal of Karnataka for discussion in the meeting is a violation of the notified final order of the Cauvery water disputes tribunal and the judgment of the Supreme Court. The Government of Tamil Nadu has been conveying its strong objections and has been urging the Centre to reject outright the proposal of Karnataka.”
It added: “Further, Karnataka has not obtained the prior concurrence of the Government of Tamil Nadu and of other co-basin States. Cauvery basin being a deficit basin, construction of Mekedatu or any project in any place by upper riparian State will drastically affect the lower riparian State in getting its due share of water. Tamil Nadu has filed an interlocutory application before the Supreme Court against the proposal of Karnataka for constructing a reservoir and a contempt petition against all concerned and the matter is pending in the Supreme Court.”
The Chief Minister requested the MoJS not to accord any clearance to this project as well as any other project in the Cauvery basin contemplated by Karnataka without obtaining the prior concurrence of the Tamil Nadu government and of other co-basin states.
Central team visits city to study work on water bodies
A team of officials from Ministry of Water Resources, River Restoration and Ganga Rejuvenation department arrived in Chennai on Wednesday to examine Chennai Corporation’s drive to restore water bodies.
The visit is a part of Jal Shakti Abhiyan campaign launched by the central government. “The Centre intends to promote rainwater harvesting across the country and conducted a meeting with state officials.
We had participated in the meeting and explained our initiative of restoring water bodies. Hence, officials visited Chennai to study our work,” a Corporation official said.
The team visited Katchaleeshwarar Temple pond at Armenian Street, Muthukumarasamy Temple pond at Devaraja Street in Royapuram and other water bodies which were restored. The civic body has proposed a project to restore 210 water bodies and taken up 104 water bodies, including temple ponds, in first phase.
The official said that the team also visited a pond in VGN Nagar in Maduravoyal where the stormwater drain is let into the pond.
“Owing to the illegal letting of sewage into stormwater drain, we could not connect stormwater drains to water bodies. But, VGN Nagar took ownership of the pond and promised to prevent illegal sewage connection. If the residents in other parts of the city cooperate, rainwater can be successfully stored in water bodies,” he added.
What is Mekedatu Project?
- Mekedatu, which means meaning goat’s leap, is a deep gorge situated at the confluence of the rivers Cauvery and Arkavathi, about 100 km from Bengaluru, at the Kanakapura taluk in Ramanagara district.
- In 2013, then Karnataka Law Minister TB Jayachandra announced the construction of a reservoir project over the Mekedatu. The Rs 5,912-crore project aims to alleviate drinking water problems of Bengaluru and Ramanagara district.
- The government at the time said that the reservoir would have a capacity of 66 tmcft, after releasing water to Tamil Nadu
Why Does TN Object?
- Soon after the project was announced in 2013, then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa wrote to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him not to grant permission or environmental clearance
- Explaining the potential for damage to the lower riparian state of Tamil Nadu, she said that the project was in violation of the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
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