Engineers' body offers to help govt with Mekedatu project

Amid the political slugfest over the Mekedatu project, the 101-year-old Institution of Engineers (IoE) on Friday offered to help the Karnataka government by constituting an expert committee to look into various technicalities.

The body is willing to extend its expertise and services to the government free of cost, IoE Karnataka chairperson M Lakshmana said.

The IoE had organised a discussion on the Mekedatu balancing reservoir project. Speaking at the event, Lakshmana said the Mekedatu project will bring the pressure down on upstream dams such as Kabini and KRS. This will be useful to Karnataka, especially in the peak season when there is water scarcity.

That apart, it will also aid in tourism and fishing culture and will facilitate economic growth in the surrounding areas, he said. When it comes to a city like Bengaluru where the daily water consumption is only expected to grow in the coming years, the Mekedatu project will be a boon in addressing drinking water woes, he added.

In order to help the government iron out the technical glitches in securing permissions, the IoE will constitute a five-member committee that will include experts who have worked in water resources earlier and are familiar with the processes. An exclusive office will be set up for the purpose. The committee will extend aid to the government, free of cost, he said. A memorandum will also be submitted to the state government urging it to expedite the process.

Captain Raja Rao, a retired government official and former environment secretary, emphasised that Karnataka was not doing anything illegal in proposing the Mekedatu project.

As long as the state government is using water within its boundaries and is not breaking its commitment to release the annually stipulated amount of water to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka is not flouting any rules, he said.

The 1924 link

Digging into history, Rao said an approval was given to the Mekedatu project way back in 1924. The then joint secretary of Madras Presidency in 1924, gave a press statement which says that the then governments (Madras Presidency and Mysore State) had agreed that: "Mysore shall utilise the water power available at Mekedatu for development of electric power..." He urged the state government to make use of it to present its case before the court.

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