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The Coordination Committee of the Tamil Nadu All Farmers’ Association has alleged that survey work linked to the proposed Mekedatu reservoir project is underway in Karnataka and urged the Tamil Nadu government to initiate contempt proceedings against the neighbouring state.
Speaking to TNM after visiting the proposed project site near Kanakapura in Karnataka, the association’s president PR Pandian alleged that markings and other developments at the site indicated that survey work for the project had begun despite the legal and statutory processes governing it.
“The Tamil Nadu government should file a contempt petition against the illegal construction of the Mekedatu dam. We demand that legal action be initiated against the Karnataka government’s action,” he said.
“As per the Supreme Court's directions, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) is responsible for managing the issues, and no government has the authority to proceed with the project on its own,” Pandian told TNM.
The Mekedatu project, proposed by Karnataka across the Cauvery near the Tamil Nadu border, has remained a long-standing flashpoint between the two states.
Karnataka has consistently maintained that the proposed reservoir is intended to provide 4.75 tmc drinking water to Bengaluru and surrounding areas and generate 400 MW of hydroelectric power. The proposed balancing reservoir will have a gross storage capacity of 67.16 tmc.
In March this year, then Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar – who is the MLA of Kanakapura constituency – said that Revenue and Forest Department officials would undertake a survey to ascertain the extent of land that would be submerged due to the proposed project.
On June 30, Shivakumar, who is now the Chief Minister, while chairing a meeting of the State Wildlife Board, approved a proposal for a geotechnical survey involving drilling 20 boreholes to a depth of 30 metres in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary. The proposal has now been sent to the National Wildlife Board, as their approval is required to conduct any work in a protected area.
At the meeting, Shivakumar also instructed officials to sort out ‘minor technical issues’ with the project so that Tamil Nadu cannot raise objections in the Supreme Court on trivial issues.
In an interview with a Kannada news channel, Water Resources Minister Ramalinga Reddy said he was confident that the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) would give the go-ahead for the construction of the reservoir.
“They (Tamil Nadu) have to understand that all we are getting is 4.7 tmc of drinking water and 400 MW of power. We are not using it for agriculture. It will actually benefit Tamil Nadu. This June, we had to release 9 tmc of water, but there was no rain. If we had a reservoir, then that water could have been stored and released,” he said.
Ramalinga Reddy also said that Congress would continue to support the respective state’s agenda and not be conflicted by the varying stands in two states. In Tamil Nadu, Congress is in alliance with the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
The Karnataka Minister also said that he and Shivakumar had met the Union Water Resources Minister a fortnight earlier and extended an invitation to Tamil Nadu. “We asked him to organise a meeting with Tamil Nadu, and we can talk. We can clear whatever doubts and misunderstandings they have. It will benefit their state and the farmers too,” he said.
However, Tamil Nadu has opposed the project, arguing that storing water could affect its share of Cauvery water and impact drinking water supply and irrigation.
Pandian, who visited the proposed project site with a delegation of farmers, alleged that new staircases had been constructed from the hillside to the riverbed and that iron rods had been fixed into rocky surfaces as part of survey measurements for the proposed reservoir.
He further alleged that the area, which was previously inaccessible to tourists because it lies within a dense forest inhabited by elephants and tigers, has now opened to visitors through special bus services.
Pandian alleged that these developments suggested Karnataka was preparing to move ahead with the project.
In 2018, the Central Water Commission (CWC), the Union government’s technical body for water resources, permitted Karnataka to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Mekedatu project, which the state subsequently submitted in 2021.
However, permission to prepare a DPR does not lead to approval for construction.
The CWMA, constituted following the Supreme Court's 2018 judgement on the Cauvery water dispute, oversees the implementation of the water sharing mechanism between the states. The project continues to require statutory clearances before any construction can proceed.
“Even farmers in Karnataka are opposing the project. They say it will affect the Krishna Raja Sagara dam, reduce water available for irrigation and divert water to Mekedatu in the name of drinking water,” Pandian said.
He also claimed that the project would have severe consequences for Tamil Nadu if implemented.
“If the Mekedatu dam is built, the drinking water source for nearly five crore people across 38 districts, including Chennai, will be affected. Around 25 lakh acres of agricultural land will be directly or indirectly impacted and could turn barren. Nearly 60% of food production will be destroyed,” he alleged.
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader Anbumani Ramadoss, during his ongoing padayatra against the proposed dam project, urged Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to convene an all-party meeting on the issue.
“The Chief Minister should convene an all-party meeting and lead all Tamil Nadu MLAs and MPs to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and insist that Karnataka should not be allowed to build the Mekedatu dam at the cost of the people of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Recently, the Tamil Nadu Assembly has also unanimously passed a resolution opposing the project and urging the Union government not to grant any approval for the project and sought the constitution of a separate tribunal to resolve the dispute.