The long-running Cauvery river feud again thrust itself under the national spotlight after Vijay wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling on the Centre to reject Karnataka’s proposed Mekedatu Project.
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu opposed the initiative and denounced prior Supreme Court decisions and the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) final award that was handed down. Vijay wrote to the Prime Minister in his detailed letter that the Union government ordered the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Central Water Commission (CWC) to reject Karnataka’s Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Mekedatu project.
He said the proposed reservoir runs counter to the law for sharing Cauvery river water after decades of court battles between the southern states. The controversy has rapidly become one of Vijay’s very first big political headaches after becoming Tamil Nadu CM.
His strong stance on the issue is regarded as a way to appease farmers and opposition parties in the state to see that his government will stand firmly behind Tamil Nadu’s water rights. The Mekedatu project requires the construction of a balancing reservoir and dam on the Cauvery River close to the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Karnataka has argued that the project will mainly supply drinking water to Bengaluru and the surrounding areas and generate hydroelectric power. But Tamil Nadu has worried that a new major upstream reservoir that Karnataka will build will lessen the flow of water to the state, particularly during sensitive agricultural seasons.
The Cauvery River is the lifeline of the Tamil Nadu delta districts. Here, lakhs of farmers depend on river water for irrigation and livelihoods. Vijay pointed out in his letter that the judgment by the Supreme Court in 2018 and the CWDT award gave Cauvery water to the basin states already.
He argued that there is no practical opportunity for extra storage projects, since the Cauvery basin is already classified as a deficit basin. Any new project not specifically approved by the tribunal would directly encroach upon the Supreme Court’s judgment, he said.
This new political controversy had been fuelled after Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar previously stated that the state would soon submit a revised project report to the Centre, after which it would carry out the project after getting the green light. He also announced that a “bhumi puja” ceremony would take place once clearances are approved.
Shivakumar’s statement received swift reactions across Tamil Nadu and was widely condemned across the state and across party boundaries. Vijay said the development sowed anxiety among Tamil Nadu farmers, who are heavily dependent on Cauvery waters for agriculture and their livelihoods.
A case of Water dispute in the Cauvery water has become one of the most emotionally and politically emotive issues that remains the most polarising in South India. For decades, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry have been fighting each other over sharing river water.
The quarrel has earlier prompted large-scale protests, political conflict and hostilities between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu have also increased pressure on Vijay to adopt a firm line against the project. This includes representatives from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Pattali Makkal Katchi and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, who have also attacked the proposed dam.
Former chief minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K Palaniswami said the Mekedatu dam could significantly reduce water availability to Tamil Nadu’s delta districts. The PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, on the other hand, said the project could imperil irrigation and drinking water supplies for vast numbers of residents in the state.
As the Centre considers Karnataka’s proposal, its Mekedatu matter is likely to stay for months to come a major political and legal flashpoint between the two neighbouring states.
