BENGALURU: The Mekedatu project is a long-stretched controversy between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka but both the states can sit together and resolve it, Sadhguru, from Isha Foundation said on Monday.
“Instead of discussing how much water one state gets, they should work together as Cauvery River is being neglected,” he added.Speaking to media on the sidelines of the board meeting on increasing plantation along Cauvery river on farmers’ land, he said no more time should be wasted in such controversies.
“I was at KRS dam and the water was brown. Is the government waiting for it to turn red? It is brown because the mountains in Coorg are melting? (landslides). This is an alarm bell and the government should address it now. Rivers, wells and lakes are not sources of water, monsoon is. They help in storing water but our idea of water storage is dams, due to which more of these are being planned,” he added.
He said the rich lands of Coorg and Malnad should not flow down with water, the water should sink into the soil. “However, that is not happening because of too much development,” he said on the issue of flooding of Cauvery and the recent floods. He added that this year, under the Cauvery Calling project, saplings will be planted with the help of 890 volunteers on ground, 1,785 gram panchayats along the nine Cauvery basin districts in Karnataka.
Sadhguru said with the plantation the issue of soil restoration will be dealt with and the organic component in the soil will also increase. Dr Kiran Kumar, former ISRO Chairman, who is working with Sadhguru on the Cauvery Calling project said technology is being used to the optimum to monitor the growth of each sapling planted and to check the quality of the soil as time progresses.