Chennai, May 27:
Expressing serious concern over the remarks of Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar and asserting that Karnataka’s proposed move to construct a new dam at Mekedatu across river Cauvery contravened the orders of Supreme Court order and the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CEDT), Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reject the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and desist the neighbouring state from taking up any new project without the consent of the riparian states.
It may be noted that Shivakumar’s remarks that TN has no right to object to the dam proposal, triggered furious reactions from various political parties including those supporting the Vijay goverment and the Opposition, terming them as “arrogant” and “betrayal of Tamil Nadu”.
Vijay, who is also scheduled to meet Mr Modi during his visit and submit a detailed memorandum on various issues concerning the state, also requested the Prime Minister to instruct the concerned
officers in the Jal Shakti Ministry as well in the Central Water Commission (CWC) to reject Karnataka’s DPR on Mekedatu project as it is in contravention to the Final Award of CWDT dated February 5, 2007 and the Supreme Court’s February 16, 2018 Judgment and also advise the Government of Karnataka not to take up any new project without getting the concurrence of co-basin States and not to violate the
Supreme Court order in totality.
In a Demi-Official letter to Modi, on the eve of his maiden visit to the National capital after becoming CM for the first time, Vijay said Karnataka, in utter violation of the Supreme Court Judgment and the Final Award of the CWDT has announced the “Bhoomi Puja” of the Mekedatu reservoir on the river Cauvery.
Observig that the public utterances of the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka to this effect has caused a lot of concern among the lakhs of farmers of Tamil Nadu, who depend on the Cauvery river for their livelihood, he pointed out that a solution to the sensitive Cauvery water dispute was obtained after a long legal battle, lasting about three decades, and the February 16, 2018 judgment is under implementation.
Pointing out that Mekedatu Project is not in the list of projects permitted by the Tribunal, which has been affirmed by the above Judgment, Vijay said there was no scope for additional utilization or for creating new huge storage reservoir, since the Cauvery basin is found to be deficit basin and the available water at 50 percent dependability has already been allocated to the party States.
“Therefore, planning any new project across Cauvery or its tributaries, other than those specifically permitted by the Tribunal in its Final Award as affirmed by the Supreme Court in its Judgment
dated 16.02.2018, would tantamount to interfering with the said Judgment”, he noted.
Vijay said Tamil Nadu is of the firm view that by proposing a new Mekedatu Project with a storage capacity of 67.16 TMC just upstream of Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, the State of Karnataka is attempting to prevent the flows generated in the uncontrolled catchment, one of the three components from which the flows are to be ensured to Tamil Nadu, according to the Final Award as modified by Judgment of the
Supreme Court.
Further, the Supreme Court in its February 16, 2018 Judgment has held that the upper riparian State (Karnataka) should not take any action so as to affect the scheduled deliveries of water to the lower riparian State. Hence, the act of proposing to construct a new Reservoir by Karnataka would amount to clear violation of the said Judgment.
“In this connection, I bring to your kind notice that when Karnataka attempted to obtain Terms of Reference (ToR) for conducting EIA study, the Expert Appraisal Committee of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF and CC) in its meeting held on July 19, 2019 opined that in view of inter-state issues involved, an amicable resolution needs to be arrived between the States and
returned the proposal.
It may also be noted that the MoEF and CC has not even issued Terms of Reference (ToR) for conducting the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study and therefore, the attempt of Karnataka to proceed with the Mekedatu Project is a blatant violation of not only the Judgment of the Supreme Court, but also of the existing environmental laws, Vijay opined.
In this scenario, it was surprising that the Jal Shakti Ministryand the CWC, which are mandated to implement the February 16, 2018 Judgment in letter and spirit, are entertaining Karnataka’s proposal of Mekedatu Project, without considering the Tamil Nadu government’s plea, Vijay said, clearly registering his opposition, and urged Mr Modi to instruct the concerned officers in the Ministry of Jal Shakti, as well in the CWC to reject Karnataka’s DPR on Mekedatu project.