Chennai, Aug 24:
Observing that Karnataka has submitted a revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the centre and planned the ground breaking ceremony for Mekedatu dam construction by August next year after getting necessary approvals, PMK President and Rajya Sabha member Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss has urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay to either convene an all party meet or lead an all party delegation to Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stall the move.
In a statement here, he said the Karnataka government has prepared and submitted a revised DPR to the Union government for constructing the Mekedatu dam across the Cauvery River and has stated that, after obtaining the necessary approvals, it plans to lay the foundation stone for the new dam by August next year.
At a time when Karnataka is showing such determination to pursue the Mekedatu dam project, the Tamil Nadu government must no longer remain indifferent. If it fails to exert pressure, there was even a possibility that the Centre could grant permission for the dam construction.If that happens, it would become a major historical blunder, and the TN Chief Minister would have to bear responsibility for it for years to come.
He urged Vijay to convene an all-party leaders’ meeting on the Mekedatu issue without allowing any ego to come in the way. If he was not agreeable to this, he should at least lead a delegation of all-party leaders to Delhi and personally meet the Prime Minister and the Union Water Resources Minister to press the matter.
Anbumani, who is also a former Union Minister, said in the revised DPR only certain technical corrections pointed out earlier by the Union government have been made. There has been no change in the dam’s storage capacity or the reservoir area. Therefore, there is no possibility of any reduction in the adverse impact on Tamil Nadu or on the environment.
According to the new DPR, the Mekedatu dam will have a storage capacity of 67 TMC, of which only 4.75 TMC will be used for Bengaluru’s drinking-water requirements. It also proposes a 400-MW hydropower project. If the dam is completed, 12,500 acres of forest land will be converted into reservoir area and submerged. The DPR also states that 8.9 lakh trees in the areas where the dam is to be constructed will have to be felled.
The construction of the Mekedatu dam will cause extremely serious environmental damage. Around 12,500 acres of land in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary will be submerged. The habitats of elephants, tigers and birds will be destroyed, threatening rare species of wildlife. Several hill-dwelling villages will also be submerged. This will amount to a massive ecological disaster, as the PMK has been warning for many years. The new DPR has once again confirmed the validity of these warnings, he said.
The four existing dams built by Karnataka across the Cauvery and its tributaries — Krishnaraja Sagar, Kabini, Harangi and Hemavathi — together have a capacity of 114.57 TMC. If the Mekedatu dam is added, the total storage capacity would rise to 185 TMC. In addition, if another 40 TMC is stored in lakes, ponds and other water bodies, Karnataka could potentially store 225 TMC of Cauvery water. If that happens, not even a single drop of water would reach Tamil Nadu. The Cauvery-irrigated districts would soon turn into deserts. Furthermore, around 50 million people in 25 districts, including Chennai, could be deprived of drinking water, he said.
Now that the revised DPR has been submitted, Karnataka Irrigation Minister Cheluvarayaswamy has stated that the necessary approvals will be obtained and the foundation stone for the Mekedatu dam will be laid by August 2027. The Congress government in Karnataka is intensifying the Mekedatu issue with an eye on winning the next Assembly election scheduled for early 2028.
If the foundation stone for the Mekedatu dam is laid in August 2027, the Congress government could make it a major campaign issue and seek political gains from it, Anbumani said.
At a time when the Karnataka government is pursuing the Mekedatu project so aggressively, the Tamil Nadu government must no longer continue its indifferent approach. The Tamil Nadu government should immediately convene an all-party leaders’ meeting to discuss the steps that need to be taken to prevent construction of the Mekedatu dam and to protect Tamil Nadu’s rights over the Cauvery.
The Chief Minister, Vijay, along with a delegation comprising all-party leaders and leaders of legislative parties, should then meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Water Resources Minister C. R. Patil in person and press them on the issue. Only then can the Union government be persuaded to cancel the permission granted in 2018 to prepare the DPR for the Mekedatu dam, he added.