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Don’t approve Mekedatu dam, TN urges Modi

Last Updated 08 October 2018, 17:47 IST

Tamil Nadu on Monday asked the Centre not to give approval to Karnataka to construct a reservoir at Mekedatu across River Cauvery without obtaining prior concurrence from it and other co-basin states.

In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Modi on Monday in New Delhi on Monday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said the Karnataka government had sent a feasibility report for construction of a reservoir with a capacity of 67.16 tmc ft and for generation of hydro-electric power of 400 MW at Mekedatu for clearance. “The proposal of Karnataka to build a reservoir at Mekedatu across the Cauvery river amounts to a clear violation of the final order of the tribunal and the judgment of the Supreme Court. It will affect the natural flow of River Cauvery,” he said.

In a federal structure, no upper riparian state should unilaterally interfere with the natural flow of an inter-state river without the consent and concurrence of the lower riparian states, the chief minister said, adding construction of such a reservoir would affect the livelihood of lakhs of farmers who depend on Cauvery water.

“I request the prime minister to advise the Government of India to instruct the Central Water Commission or any other agency to stop forthwith further processing of the feasibility report of Karnataka to construct a balancing reservoir at Mekedatu and not to give any consent to any project in the Cauvery basin of Karnataka without obtaining the prior concurrence of Tamil Nadu and other co-basin states,” he said. Palaniswami had written a letter to Modi in this regard last month.

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(Published 08 October 2018, 17:32 IST)

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