Tamil Nadu will never allow Karnataka to build Mekedatu dam, says minister Duraimurugan

Duraimurugan said in a statement that he had learnt through the media that the Karnataka deputy chief minister had met Union Water Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to discuss the permissions required for the construction of the reservoir.

He said the Karnataka government’s plan would go against a Supreme Court order and that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin had during his meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed that it should never be allowed. The minister added that he would soon visit Delhi to discuss the issue with central government officials.

Duraimurugan also said that the government had objected to the Cauvery Water Management Authority discussing the matter and that whenever the case came up in the Supreme Court, the government would dismantle the Karnataka government’s arguments for the dam.

Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami alleged that soon after the Congress formed a government in Karnataka, Shivakumar had asked his officials to prioritise the Mekedatu issue and also written to the Union minister.

“I strongly condemned it when Shivakumar held a meeting with officials over the dam in May. If the puppet Chief Minister Stalin had given a befitting reply then, Shivakumar would not have taken further measures,” the AIADMK chief said Sunday.

Alleging that Shivakumar was attempting to create confusion between the people of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, who are living in harmony, Palaniswami urged Stalin to reach Delhi with the 38 Lok Sabha MPs of the DMK-led coalition to take all measures to prevent Karnataka from going ahead with its plan. He also said the AIADMK would make all efforts to prevent Tamil Nadu “from turning into a desert”.

State BJP president K Annamalai said that Stalin would now be compromising the state’s self-respect if he attended the national Opposition meeting in Bengaluru. He said the BJP would then hold a “Go Back Stalin” protest across the state when Stalin returns from Bengaluru.

Annamalai also said there was no change in the Union government’s policy—that the dam project cannot be undertaken without the concurrence of the lower riparian states.

Mekedatu is a multi-purpose drinking water and power project proposed by Karnataka. It involves building a balancing reservoir near Kanakapura in the state’s Ramanagara district. The project, estimated to cost about Rs 9,000 crore, will ensure drinking water to Bengaluru and neighbouring areas. The Tamil Nadu government has been opposing the project since the very beginning as it may affect the state’s share of Cauvery water, the lifeline of its farmers.