CHENNAI: Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan on Monday informed the state Assembly that the proposed Mekedatu dam project cannot move forward without key approvals from various central authorities and the consent of the states concerned.
He said the project requires clearances from the Central Water Commission, Central Electricity Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Tiger Reserve Authority, Tribal Welfare Authority, and also from the states involved.
“As all these approvals are mandatory, the Tamil Nadu government will continue to strongly oppose any move to get clearance for the project,” the minister said.
He further stated that the Tamil Nadu government had filed an additional petition in the Supreme Court on August 21, 2021, seeking the Central Water Commission to reject Karnataka’s report on the Mekedatu dam. Chief Minister MK Stalin had also written to the prime minister a couple of times, requesting him not to grant any approval for the construction of the dam. “The CM even met the PM personally on this matter,” he added.
The minister reminded the House that the Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed a unanimous resolution against the Mekedatu project on March 21, 2022. In the 28th meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Board, the project report was returned as the Tamil Nadu representative strongly objected to it.
He also said that due to Tamil Nadu’s continuous opposition, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had removed the Mekedatu project details from its official website on October 21, 2024.
Before the minister spoke, AIADMK deputy floor leader RB Udhayakumar – while speaking on the demand for grants for the WRD (water resources department) – criticised the DMK government for not utilising the opportunity to resolve Tamil Nadu’s long-standing water disputes with neighbouring states when Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar recently visited the state for attending the Joint Action Committee meeting for fair delimitation.
Supporting Udhayakumar’s argument, Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami stated that since Tamil Nadu now shares cordial relations with the chief ministers of the neighbouring states, the DMK government should have seized the moment to address the inter-state water disputes.
“Tamil Nadu needs water from Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Though legal battles are ongoing in the courts, the friendly relations with these states should have been used to our advantage,” Palaniswami asserted.
Dismissing the AIADMK’s criticism, Duraimurugan questioned why the party then had failed to resolve the disputes during its tenure.
“When the AIADMK was in power, were the CMs of neighbouring states fighting with you? Were they not on good terms with you? Then why did you fail to resolve these disputes?” Duraimurugan asked.