Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to grant the Terms of Reference (ToR) for environmental clearance for Karnataka’s proposed dam at Mekedatu.
In a letter to the PM on Monday, Mr. Palaniswami drew Mr. Modi’s attention to the proposal put forward by the Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Niyamita of Karnataka for the grant of ToR for environmental clearance for the Mekedatu balancing reservoir and drinking water project. Karnataka’s action of seeking environmental clearance for the Mekedatu project was in utter violation of the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the judgment of the Supreme Court, dated February 16, 2018, he said.
The T.N. government had conveyed its strong objections to Karnataka’s proposal and had asked the Centre to reject outright and return the detailed project report (DPR) for the Mekedatu dam, which was not a designated reservoir for the release of water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu in terms of the tribunal’s final order, as modified by the SC, he added.
Further, Karnataka had not obtained the prior concurrence of T.N. and other co-basin States. Cauvery being a deficit basin, the construction of Mekedatu [dam] or [the implementation of] any project in any place by upper riparian States would drastically affect the lower riparian States in terms of their ability to get their due share of water. Moreover, the matter was pending before the Supreme Court, the CM pointed out. All these facts were mentioned in his latest memorandum to the PM, Mr. Palaniswami said, and urged Mr. Modi to direct the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to issue instructions to the authorities concerned not to consider the Karnataka government’s proposal for grant of environmental clearance.
Further, the Jal Shakti Ministry should be directed to advise the Central Water Commission to reject and return the reservoir’s DPR and not accord any clearance to the project without obtaining the prior concurrence of the T.N. government and those of other co-basin States, he said, seeking the PM’s immediate response.
