Mekedatu work after nod from Cauvery Management Authority: Karnataka CM

Bommai said that CWMA is expected to give its nod for the project in the next meeting

With the Opposition Congress piling pressure on the government to implement the Mekedatu project, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that his government would take it up as soon as it is cleared by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).

Bommai said that CWMA had discussed the Mekedatu project in two meetings and is expected to give its nod for the project in the next meeting.

“We are following up on the issue regularly,” he told the Assembly in response to a question by Hoskote MLA Sharath Bachegowda.

Bommai added that his government was determined to implement the project.

The project envisages a balancing reservoir across Cauvery river at Mekedatu to cater to the drinking water needs of the Bengaluru metropolitan region.

According to a written reply by Water Resources Minister Govind M Karjol, clearances are pending from various directorates of the Central Water Commission, approval for Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan reports by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, and other clearances pertaining to wildlife conservation, forests and environment.

“We have urged the Centre to clear the project so that work can start,” Bommai said, adding that implementation of the project would be easier once CWMA cleared it.

Apart from Sharath, Congress MLAs including KPCC president D K Shivakumar and Krishna Byre Gowda sought to know when the government would take up the project. Shivakumar cited a Supreme Court order to argue that works on Mekedatu could be taken up as it was a drinking water project. “You start the work. We are ready to support you,” he said.

Gowda demanded the government to clarify when it would implement the project. “The state government is not taking any action to clear the project,” he said.

The state government has petitioned all ministers concerned to clear the project at the earliest, Karjol said, noting that it was a sensitive issue.

Earlier, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri had advised Sharath against discussing the issue in detail, noting that the case is sensitive in nature.

Congress padayatra

Earlier in the day, the Congress announced that it will take out a Padayatra rom January 9 to 19 demanding the implementation of the Mekedatu project. It will commence from Mekedatu and conclude in either Basavanagudi or Freedom Park, Shivakumar said.

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