Bengaluru: In reply to a letter written by CM B. S. Yediyurappa asking Tamil Nadu not to oppose the Mekedatu project, Chief Minister M. K. Stalin said the reservoir would “definitely jeopardise” the availability of water to Tamil Nadu.
He also said that the logic behind the construction of a major reservoir at Mekedatu, which is too far away from Bengaluru, aimed at fulfilling the drinking water needs of the state capital does not “sound valid.”
Tamil Nadu on Sunday July 4 lodged its strong protest over Karnataka’s move to construct a reservoir in Mekedatu across River Cauvery and nudged the neighbouring state not to pursue the project. In his letter, Yediyurappa had said that the implementation of this project would in no way affect the interests of the farming communities of Tamil Nadu.
Stalin said the proposed Mekedatu project would impound and divert the first component of uncontrolled flows due to Tamil Nadu and punched holes in the view that the implementation of Mekedatu project would not affect the interests of Tamil Nadu’s farming community. Yediyurappa pointed out that Tamil Nadu had moved the Apex Court against the project. “Karnataka, too, has filed an application before the Union Government seeking approval for Terms of Reference (ToR) to conduct Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies,” he said.