Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said the Union Government must make its stand clear on the Mekedatu drinking water project setting aside politics.
Speaking to reporters here, Shivakumar said he had told Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil to make his ministry's stand clear about the project at the earliest. Shivakumar, who also Karnataka's Water Resources Minister met Patil in Delhi on Tuesday and requested for early clearances for all irrigation and drinking water projects of the state. "Whatever may be the politics around the project, the Union Water Resources Ministry needs to clarify its decision. It is now in the position of a judge and it needs to tell whether it is in favour of the project or against it. There is no point in wasting time on it," Shivakumar said.
The state government has proposed to build a 67 tmc feet capacity balancing reservoir across Cauvery river near Mekedatu on the Karnataka -Tamil Nadu border. The primary objectives are to provide drinking water to Bengaluru and surrounding residential areas and generate 400 MW power. Even though the State Government has submitted the detailed project report and sought multiple mandatory clearances from different Central government agencies including environmental clearance two years ago, the latter is yet to provide the clearances. This is mainly owing to the opposition to the project by Tamil Nadu. The neighbouring state has been opposing the project claiming it would significantly reduce the flow of water downstream negatively impacting the state's agriculture activities and drinking water needs.
Shivakumar said he would hold a meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to discuss the state's proposal to build a balancing reservoir across Tungabhadra river at Navali in Koppal district. He said that he spoke to Naidu over phone from Udaipur in Rajasthan during a conference of Water Resources Ministers of all states and requested an appointment with him in the first week of March. "We will have a detailed discussion on the project. Our technical team has also suggested an alternative to the project. I will disclose after a meeting with Naidu," he said. The state has planned a balancing reservoir as the storage capacity at Tungabhadra dam at Hospet has drastically reduced due to accumulation of silt.
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