Implement Mekedatu project on priority basis: Dy CM DKS to officials

Umar Sharieef | NT

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday asked officials to implement the ‘Mekedatu’ project on a priority basis. Minister for Water Resources and Bengaluru Development, DKS held a meeting with high-level officials of his department at Vidhana Soudha.

While he discussed various issues with the officials, he asked them to implement the Mekedatu project on a priority basis and said the Rs 1000 crore allocated for the project could be earmarked for preparatory work like land acquisition. Why was so much money deposited, he asked the officials while directing them to act.

The announcement entailed the Karnataka government is set to take up the controversial project notwithstanding Tamil Nadu government's opposition to it. The tussle Karnataka will utilize additional 4.75tmc feet of water to meet the drinking water requirement of Bengaluru and its surroundings, if implemented. However, the Tami Nadu government is opposing the move, stating Karnataka has been releasing less water from the Cauvery than prescribed by the Supreme Court in 2018.

Karnataka, on the other hand, had earlier contended in the court that the project was essential for supplying drinking water to half of Bengaluru, which relies on groundwater and other sources. But, the challenges lie ahead in giving it a go-head as the Cauvery Water Management Authority(CWMA) and Union Environment Ministry need to approve it. In 2022, the Tamil Nadu government approached the Supreme Court pleading to order the CWMA not to discuss the Mekedatu dam plan in the upcoming meeting in July.

Later, the court allowed the CWMA to discuss but barred it from formulating any opinion on the proposal by the Karnataka government. With Tamil Nadu’s Water Resource Minister Durai Murugan, along with his delegates, on June 22, urging the Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekawat not to allow any deliberation on the dam plans, citing the CWMA has no right to do so, the move of the Congress government is being closely watched.

DKS also asked the officials to work for the resolution of the water dispute, completion of pending projects, mobilization of resources for irrigation projects, bringing grants from the center, and employment creation. He also allotted Rs 2 lakh crore in 5 years for irrigation projects. “Resources should be mobilized through government, institutions, and central grants. Land acquisition for pending projects should be expedited”, DKS said at the meeting.