Tamil Nadu opposes discussion on Mekedatu in CWMA meeting, moves SC

Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) not to take up for discussion the Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by Karnataka for the construction of a reservoir across river Cauvery in Mekedatu.

In its petition, the state government said the CWMA does not have powers to discuss the Mekedatu issue and recalled that it had stalled discussions on the controversial project in the past. The government filed the petition after the CWMA included “discussions on Mekedatu project DPR” in the agenda for its 16th meeting in New Delhi on June 17, 2022.

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Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan said in a statement that the state government has told the Union Government not to accord any sanction for the construction of Mekedatu. “When the Karnataka Government allotted Rs 1,000 crore for the project, the Tamil Nadu assembly passed a unanimous resolution opposing the move and sent it to the Union Government,” Murugan said.

The CWMA, had in the past, refrained from taking up the discussion on Mekedatu following the Tamil Nadu government’s objection citing a pending case in the Supreme Court. However, the discussion has been added to the agenda for the 16th meeting, Murugan said, adding that the Tamil Nadu government has written to the CWMA to remove the Mekedatu issue from the agenda as the agency has “no powers to discuss the issue.”

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“We have moved the Supreme Court today (June 7) seeking a direction to the CWMA that it should not allow discussion on Mekedatu which is beyond its brief,” Murugan said. He also gave an assurance to farmers in the Cauvery Delta region that the DMK dispensation will take steps to ensure that their rights vis-à-vis Cauvery water are protected.

The minister also said the Tamil Nadu representative will protest against the decision to discuss the DPR at the meeting. Tamil Nadu has been opposing the project contending that the construction of a new reservoir across Cauvery is against the 2007 final award by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) and the 2018 verdict by the Supreme Court.

The state government argues that water flow from Karnataka into Tamil Nadu will get disrupted if a new reservoir is built in the neighbouring state. While Karnataka says it does not need any permission for constructing the reservoir in Mekedatu, Tamil Nadu feels otherwise.