CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan today said that the State government would urge the Union Government to constitute an inter-State Water Disputes Tribunal expeditiously to resolve the dispute over construction of a dam across Markandeya river by Karnataka government, despite opposition from Tamil Nadu from the very beginning.
"Tamil Nadu government, in its communication dated June 29 to the Union Jal Shakti Ministry reiterated its demand for early constitution of the Tribunal. The new dam by Karnataka will affect irrigation in 870 hectares of lands in Krishnagiri district. This issue will be resolved through the Tribunal," the Minister said in a statement here.
Durai Murugan further said the state government would take appropriate steps to safeguard the rights of farmers and the public who depend on the water from Markandeya river which originates from Karnataka and flows into Pennaiyar river in Tamil Nadu.
When the engineers of the Central Water Commission inspected the works for the new dam in 2017, Karnataka said the dam with 0.5 tmcft storage capacity was being constructed to fulfil the drinking water requirements of the people in the area and to fortify the groundwater.
In 2019, Karnataka announced that the construction of this dam was almost over.
Tamil Nadu has been consistently opposing the Karnataka government in this regard and a petition was filed before the Supreme Court on May 18, 2018.
Later, on an interim petition, the Supreme Court directed that a Tribunal should be constituted to resolve this issue.
In 2019, Tamil Nadu government urged the Union Government to constitute the Tribunal at the earliest but till now, the Tribunal has not been formed.
As per the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956, the Union government should constitute a Tribunal within an year from the date of request. But the tribunal is yet to become a reality.
Farmers' associations have been opposing a new dam across Markandeya river by Karnataka since it will affect the irrigation and drinking water requirements of six districts - Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Kallakurichi, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Cuddalore.