MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Saturday condemned Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s announcement in the Budget that his government was committed in implementing the Mekedatu project across Cauvery river.
In a statement here, he urged the Tamil Nadu government to prevent Karnataka from going ahead with its plan to construct the dam to provide water supply and generate electricity. “In the last 48 years, we have lost cultivation in 15.87 lakh hectares while Karnataka was able to increase its area of cultivation from 9.96 lakh hectares to 38.25 lakh hectares. If the Mekedatu project is allowed, the Cauvery delta will become a desert,” he said.
Recalling Tamil Nadu’s petition in the Supreme Court against the decision to discuss the draft of the Mekedatu project in the Cauvery Water Management Board on the grounds that it was against the final verdict of the Cauvery Tribunal, Mr. Vaiko said the role of the management board was to ensure release of 177.25 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu. “But it has been functioning without any power,” he alleged.