EPS criticises K’taka for constituting high-level panel for Mekedatu dam construction, urges Stalin to protect rights over Cauvery

Criticising the Congress government in Karnataka for acting with the sole intention of turning Tamil Nadu into a desert by failing to honour the rights of the lower riparian state over Cauvery waters, the principal opposition AIADMK has urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to take proactive steps to protect the state’s legitimate rights.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), reacting to reports that the neighbouring state has constituted a 30-member high-level committee of senior bureaucrats to carry out necessary steps for the construction of the Mekedatu dam at the interstate border across the Cauvery, said the Stalin government should take appropriate legal steps so that Tamil Nadu’s rights are not frittered away.

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In a statement here, he described the Cauvery river as the lifeline of Tamil Nadu and blamed Chief Minister Stalin for the lackadaisical attitude and ‘failure’ to place a strong legal defence before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Supreme Court last time. EPS, also Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, alleged that it was habitual for the DMK, whenever the party was in power, to abdicate its responsibility in this matter to protect the family interests of the DMK leadership. That is why it is playing ball to the Congress government in Karnataka, he added.

Tamil Nadu has been consistently opposing the construction of a balancing reservoir at Mekedatu, close to the Tamil Nadu border, where the Cauvery enters into the state, to impound 67.16 TMF ft of water, to provide drinking water to Bengaluru, and to generate 400 MW of electricity, among others. Tamil Nadu is apprehensive that this would result in water scarcity for the delta region, the rice bowl of the state. Recently, the apex court has given the go-ahead for Karnataka to carry on the Detailed Project Report for a balancing reservoir at Mekedatu, close to the Tamil Nadu border, primarily for the drinking water needs of Bengaluru.

With the DMK and the Congress being part of the INDIA bloc, EPS is attempting to use the Mekedatu issue to create a wedge between them and paint the alliance as anti-Tamil.