The State government is working on a peninsular river-linking project on the lines of the Ganga-Cauvery river-linking project, said Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra.
Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, the Minister said the proposal is to link the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery to store excess water that flows off into the sea. Stating that this proposal will also help neighbouring States, Mr. Jayachandra said: “We have discussed the proposal with the Chief Minister. A decision will be taken after discussing it with neighbouring States.”
The Minister said the proposal to build a dam near Mekedatu in Kanakapura taluk of Ramanagaram district, to generate hydroelectric power, is within the framework of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) order.
This project will also help the State government in ensuring the flow of the specified 192 tmcft flow of water to Tamil Nadu at appropriate times. “We will be able to store nearly 50 tmcft of water through this project and there may not be any legal problems, including objections from the Tribunal, in utilising additional Cauvery water. There is a possibility of setting up three hydel projects here and the Karnataka Power Corporation (KPC) has also been asked to prepare a project proposal. However, a final decision has to be taken by the Chief Minister,” he said. Similarly, water from the Hemavati can be linked to Thippagondanahalli from Shivagange. The Minister said a decision had been taken to get all common projects of various departments through one nodal agency.
