Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday said he, along with a team of officials, would conduct a spot inspection at Mekedatu on December 7.

The Central Water Commission (CWC) had recently approved the pre-feasibility report of Karnataka on the Mekedatu project in Cauvery basin.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Shivakumar said, “The CWC has asked the state government to submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR) on Mekedatu. We are set to submit the DPR at the earliest. I will visit Mekedatu on December 7. Top officials of Water Resources, Forest and Finance departments will be present. I will also visit Shivanasamudra.” 

Shivakumar has also invited the local legislators and Tourism Minister Sa Ra Mahesh to accompany him during the visit.

According to the preliminary DPR prepared by Karnataka government, the project is estimated to cost about Rs 6,000 crore with the reservoir having a capacity to store 66 tmcft.

Shivakumar expressed confidence of convincing Tamil Nadu about the utility of the project to both the states.

“It is purely meant for meeting drinking water needs of Bengaluru and surrounding towns. Even Tamil Nadu representatives will be convinced about it if they take a close look at it,” Shivakumar said.

He reiterated that there was only a proposal to build a tower at the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir and not a statue of Mother Cauvery.

 “It’s not a statue. Water will be (coming) down from Goddess Cauvery and there will be a place from where people can watch. It’s a tower,” Shivakumar said. “It’ll have an elevator, it will be like Eiffel Tower, so that people can go up and get a good view of the environs.”

On BJP criticising his decision to cancel Hampi Utsav in Ballari due to the prevailing drought in the state, Shivakumar charged, “A decision was taken to cancel the Utsav due to drought. The BJP government tried to make big bucks by taking commission while organising the fest.”