Will Deve Gowda, who is close to PM, get Centre’s approval for Mekedatu?: DKS

DCM says project will be completed within the tenure of Congress

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday asserted that the Mekedatu project would materialise during the Congress tenure.

Mr. Shivakumar was speaking after inaugurating a project at Mutthinamulasoge to replenish 150 lakes of 79 villages in Periyapatna taluk.

Mr. Shivakumar said that revenue officials of Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Mysuru, and Bengaluru Rural districts had been instructed to hand over land to those who would lose their land to Mekedatu project. Forest Department officials would start the tree census exercise and revenue land would be transferred to the department in lieu of submergence of forests, he added.

The balancing reservoir project which has been mooted to meet the drinking water requirements of Bengaluru — besides impounding water to meet Tamil Nadu’s requirements — has been opposed by the lower riparian State and is yet to gain traction. Mr. Shivakumar, incidentally, had taken out a padayatra a few years ago to drum up support for Mekedatu project.

On Deve Gowda

However, he drew flak from the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda  who referred to the padayatra of Mr. Shivakumar and wondered whatever happened to it.

Mr. Shivakumar said the much-awaited project would be completed during the present term of the Congress but wondered whether Mr. Gowda who, he said, is close to Prime Minister, would get the Centre’s approval for it.

He also hit out at the BJP MPs of the State for their failure to secure permission for the project from the Centre. “Mr. Gowda is casting aspersions on us unnecessarily. We are fighting legally to secure approvals for the Mekedatu project,” Mr. Shivakumar added.

He said that the Mekedatu project would store about 66 tmcft of water and it would be a balancing reservoir to release water to Tamil Nadu when there is not enough water in the KRS, Kabini, Harangi, and Hemavati reservoirs.

‘Real mantrakshate’

Lashing out at the BJP for playing with the sentiments and emotions of people, Mr. Shivakumar said the BJP was capitalising on the “mantrakshate”, but the Congress believes that the public welfare schemes are the real “mantrakshate” to resolve socio-economic problems faced by the public.