CHENNAI: Expressing surprise over the Jal Shakti Minister’s reply, the PMK on Monday referred to the centre’s stand in 2015 on the proposed Shivasamudram Run-of-the-River Power Project.
PMK sources said the BJP-led union government had, in 2015, returned the DPR for the Shivasamudram project submitted by Karnataka, citing the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
The PMK referred to a letter written by the then Union Minister for Water Resources, Uma Bharti, to Anbumani Ramadoss. The letter stated that the DPR was returned with the observation, “Views/comments of basin states, especially TN and Puducherry, may be obtained on the DPR of the project and furnished to CWC along with the DPR to enable its examination from inter-state angle.”
PMK sources said the Union Minister had cited Clause XVIII of the CWDT Award while ignoring the condition that such power could be exercised only “in a manner not inconsistent with the order of the tribunal”.
“The Supreme Court judgment cannot be read as a licence for unilateral upstream control,” the sources added.