Siddaramaiah says Karnataka to go ahead with Mekedatu dam

Tamil Nadu government has protested against Karnataka's decision of constructing a reservoir at Mekedatu by calling it "unilateral action", and has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention.

Bengaluru, Feb 26: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today termed Tamil Nadu's objection to the proposed Mekedatu dam project across Cauvery river as politically motivated, and said the state government will go ahead with the project.

Stating that there is no technical or legal issue concerning the project, he assured that Tamil Nadu would not face any problem as it would get its stipulated share of 192 tmc ft of water in the years with normal rainfall. "Technically or legally there is no problem at all, it is being done in our territory", Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

Pointing out that as per the Cauvery tribunal award, 192 thousand million cubic feet of water has be released to Tamil Nadu in a normal year, he said "...what we are doing is build a balancing reservoir for power generation and drinking water needs. We will continue to give their share of water in normal years."

"They (Tamil Nadu) are using it politically, since the beginning they have been doing it. Legally, technically there is no problem. There will be no problem for them," he said. Tamil Nadu government has protested against Karnataka's decision of constructing a reservoir at Mekedatu by calling it "unilateral action", and has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in the matter.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami had yesterday written a letter to Modi in this regard. Asked whether he is hopeful of convincing Tamil Nadu on the project, Siddaramaiah said "since they are politicising it, they are not ready to accept the truth. They are looking at it politically."

Asked about the state government's next move, he said "we will go ahead with the project." Karnataka cabinet had recently taken a decision to implement the Rs 5,912 crore Mekedatu Multipurpose (drinking and power) Project across the river Cauvery, which involves building a balancing reservoir with a capacity of about 66 tmcft, near Kanakapura in Ramanagaram district.

PTI