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Barely 10 days after Karnataka’s Congress government took over at a ceremony that was attended by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, the two state governments, run by parties that are southern allies against the BJP, clashed this week over a project to supply drinking water to Bengaluru.
What has happened?
After Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar expressed the resolve to build a dam and reservoir on the Cauvery at Mekedatu close to the state’s border with Tamil Nadu, DMK general secretary Durai Murugan issued a sharp response — pointing out that the Mekedatu project was not part of the awards of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) or the ruling of the Supreme Court.
Any unauthorised construction across the river could harm Tamil Nadu and violate both the 2007 final order of the CWDT and the 2018 verdict of the SC, Durai Murugan, who is water resources minister for the state, said.
The main opposition in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK, has warned of protests if Karnataka proceeds with the construction of the contentious dam project. AIADMK general secretary K Palaniswami criticised Shivakumar’s remarks.
Palaniswami claimed that under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, Karnataka is legally prohibited from obstructing or altering the natural course of a river. He also referred to the final judgment on the Cauvery water dispute, asserting that no irrigation project can start without the lower riparian states’ consent.
In December 2018, when he was Chief Minister, Palaniswami had written to the Prime Minister, urging him to stop a feasibility study being conducted for the project in Karnataka.
The Mekedatu dam project is located in Ramanagaram district about 100 km south of Bengaluru, close to where the Cauvery enters Tamil Nadu. The project has been contentious for years.
The dam, with a proposed capacity of 48 TMC (thousand million cubic) feet and an estimated cost of Rs 6,000 crore, aims to supply drinking water to Bengaluru and replenish the regional groundwater table.
In November 2014, the Karnataka government under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah invited expressions of interest in the project and, in its 2015 Budget, allocated Rs 25 crore for a detailed project report. Shivakumar was Water Resources Minister in Siddaramaiah’s government at the time.
The Mekedatu dam will be larger than the Krishnaraja Sagar project on the Cauvery. The Central Water Commission (CWC) had cleared a feasibility study for the project in 2018.
In his statement this week, Shivakumar said Rs 1,000 crore has been earmarked for the project. In 2018, he had defended the project, saying it would “not come in the way of releasing the stipulated quantum of water to Tamil Nadu, nor will it be used for irrigation purposes”. He had said that the Karnataka government was ready to hold talks with Tamil Nadu on the Mekedatu issue.
What is the history of opposition to the project?
Tamil Nadu witnessed widespread protests against the dam in 2015, with a statewide bandh that was supported by various stakeholders. The state Assembly passed unanimous resolutions against the project in December 2018 and January 2022.
Ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, Captain Vijayakanth of DMDK had led a delegation of Opposition leaders to meet the Prime Minister on the issue. Siddaramaiah too had led an all-party delegation from Karnataka to the Prime Minister seeking the Centre’s cooperation in the project.
In August 2021, Tamil Nadu approached the Supreme Court against the project. Tamil Nadu’s key arguments are that Karnataka is attempting to modify the flow of the river by constructing two reservoirs on it.
The action violates the final award of the CRWT, and would impound the flow in the intermediate catchment below the Krishnaraja Sagar and Kabini reservoirs, and Billigundulu, along the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the state has argued.
