Bommai targets Tamil Nadu over letter to Modi on Mekedatu

“There have been several meetings about this (Mekedatu) and Tamil Nadu is raking up the issue by writing to the prime minister and we are getting a copy of it. Their demand is against the law, the federal system and a ploy to go against our rights on our water,” Karnataka CM Bommai said.

Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said a letter written by his Tamil Nadu counterpart to prime minister Narendra Modi objecting to construction of a balancing reservoir at Mekedatu is a “political stunt”.

Mekedatu, which means Goat’s crossing, is situated in Ramanagara district and successive governments in Basavaraj Bommai-led Karnataka have been promising to get the reservoir-cum-drinking water project completed as it holds significant political capital. (PTI)

“There have been several meetings about this (Mekedatu) and Tamil Nadu is raking up the issue by writing to the prime minister and we are getting a copy of it. Their demand is against the law, the federal system and a ploy to go against our rights on our water,” Bommai said.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Monday sought Modi’s intervention to restrain the Cauvery Water Management Authority from discussing Karnataka’s Mekedatu project proposal in its meeting on June 17.

Mekedatu, which literally means Goat’s crossing in English, is situated around 100 km from Bengaluru in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district and successive governments in Karnataka have been promising to get the reservoir-cum-drinking water project completed as it holds significant political capital.

The Mekedatu issue has evoked emotions on both sides of the border as it is an extension of the century-old Cauvery river water dispute that has defined generations in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The Cauvery river basin originates in Karnataka and flows through Tamil Nadu and Puducherry before it enters the Bay of Bengal. Of the total catchment area of 81,155 sq km, 34,273 sq km is in Karnataka, 44,016 sq km in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and about 2,866 sq kms in Kerala.

Karnataka has maintained that the Mekedatu balancing reservoir-cum-drinking water project is to generate 400 MW of power and additionally utilise 4.75 thousand million cubic feet of water for drinking and domestic needs in the state and particularly Bengaluru.

Bommai is hopeful to get requisite clearances from the BJP-led central government and initiate the project which would help its bid to return to power in next year’s elections.

“Our actions do not affect Tamil Nadu’s rights on the water. We are doing this well within our rights and in our state. And there have been a lot of discussions and it is approaching a conclusion now. There have been 15 meetings so far and at that time no one raised any objections. This is a political stunt as they (political parties) do this in Tamil Nadu on all issues related to the Cauvery and this is just a part of it,” the chief minister said.

The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government, soon after it came to power in 2013, announced the construction of the project which would cost ₹5,912 crore to help use the excess water to quench the thirst of surrounding districts, including Bengaluru.

Then Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha wrote to the union government not to give the project an environment clearance as it would disrupt the natural flow of water from the upper riparian state.

DK Shivakumar, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, said: “Our water is our right, there is no stoppage from the Supreme Court or any court to start the work. It is in our land, our water, our money. It benefits Tamil Nadu as well. Tamil Nadu is politicising the entire issue.”