BENGALURU: Water Resources Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy held a high-level consultative meeting with the state’s legal and technical experts in New Delhi on Tuesday. The meeting discussed ways to protect the water rights of the state’s farmers and statutory approvals for its irrigation projects.
The meeting reviewed the ongoing proceedings before the Supreme Court concerning Cauvery, Krishna, Mahadayi and Pennaiyar water disputes, as well as matters related to Tamil Nadu’s Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar river-linking project.
The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary, Water Resources Department, Gaurav Gupta; senior advocates of the Supreme Court Kushvinder Mohra and Mayank Jain; Supreme Court Advocate-on-Record Nishant Patil; ISW Chief Engineer Nandish; Deputy Technical Advisor Ananth and Delhi ISW Executive Engineer Sweety.
Cheluvarayaswamy directed the legal team to take measures to safeguard Karnataka’s water interests, particularly the Mekedatu balancing reservoir project. The government is pursuing the detailed project report and forest clearance processes at all levels and is taking steps to accelerate the pending approvals.
At 10.30 am on Wednesday, the minister will meet Central Water Commission Chairman Anupam Prasad to discuss measures to expedite the approval for the Mekedatu project.