Chennai: “The Central government should not stand by and watch the Karnataka Chief Minister distort even the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Mekedatu issue. For this, the Central government should condemn the Karnataka government. The Central government should not permit the Karnataka government to build the Mekedatu dam without the consent of Tamil Nadu, the tail-end irrigation state,” said PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss.
In the statement he has issued in this regard, “Building the Mekedatu dam across the Cauvery River is Karnataka’s right; since the Supreme Court itself has given permission to build the dam, there is no need to seek anyone’s permission, including Tamil Nadu’s,” said Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar.
When court orders clearly state that no new dam should be built on the Cauvery without the consent of the downstream state, Karnataka’s attempt to create unnecessary tension by citing a non-existent Supreme Court verdict is condemnable.
In response to the views expressed in the letter written by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he requested that the Karnataka government should not be allowed to build the Mekedatu dam without the consent of Tamil Nadu, the lower riparian state of the Cauvery, Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has said this. All the information he has presented is false; it is intended to divert the Mekedatu issue; and it distorts the Supreme Court’s verdict.
The Supreme Court has not granted any permission to the Karnataka government to build a dam at Mekedatu across the Cauvery. In the case filed on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government seeking cancellation of the permission granted to prepare a detailed project report for the Mekedatu dam, the Supreme Court ruled on November 13 last year, and again on May 21 on the review petition filed on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government against it, that the Cauvery Management Authority, on behalf of the Central Water Commission, will decide on granting permission for the Mekedatu dam by following the proper legal procedures; if the Tamil Nadu government is not satisfied with that decision, it may approach the Supreme Court, it has only advised.
The Supreme Court’s ruling is that there was no need to approach it before the decision of the Cauvery Management Authority was known. This is well known to the Chief Minister of Karnataka as well. Yet, for political gain, he is distorting the Supreme Court’s verdict.
Likewise, the Karnataka government has no inherent right to build the Mekedatu dam. Rather, the norm is that upstream irrigation areas should not implement any projects that would affect downstream irrigation areas, not only in India but across the world. This position has also been emphasized in international agreements. Regarding the sharing of Cauvery waters, this is clearly stated in the agreements signed in 1892 and 1924 between the Madras Presidency and the Mysore Presidency. When it has been clearly stated in the final award of the Cauvery Tribunal issued on February 5, 2007, and in the Supreme Court judgment of 2018, that these provisions of those agreements are valid, how can Karnataka get the right to build a dam?
Uma Bharti and Gajendra Shekhawat, while serving as Union Water Resources Ministers, have repeatedly stated that permission cannot be granted to the Karnataka government to build the Mekedatu dam without the written consent of Tamil Nadu, the downstream state. Knowing all this, the reason D.K. Shivakumar is taking up the Mekedatu dam issue is purely political.
As I have already accused many times, with elections to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly due in another 15 months, the plan of Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is to turn the Mekedatu dam issue into a political matter and help the Congress party win more seats in the 11 districts of Karnataka through which the Cauvery flows. For this, the Karnataka Congress government will stage all kinds of theatrics, including making an allocation in the Karnataka state budget to be presented next year and laying the foundation stone for the new dam. For the same political calculations, the Union government too will indirectly support all these theatrics.
Karnataka does not have even the moral right, let alone the legal right, to build the Mekedatu dam. The tribunal set up in 1990 to resolve the Cauvery dispute issued an interim award in 1991 and a final award in 2007. In the 35 years since then, not once has water been released to Tamil Nadu in accordance with either the tribunal’s interim award or its final award. The Karnataka government, which should regard Tamil Nadu as a legal partner in Cauvery water sharing, treats it as a drainage channel and releases only floodwater.
Even children would not believe Karnataka government’s claim that, after opening the floodwaters due to having no other option, it will reliably supply water to Tamil Nadu only after building a new dam and gaining the capacity to store an additional 70 TMC of water. The Supreme Court and the Central government should never believe this.
As elections approach in Karnataka, the Karnataka government will keep unravelling the falsehoods and distortions surrounding the Mekedatu dam. The Central government should not stand by and watch even the Karnataka Chief Minister misrepresent the Supreme Court’s verdict. The Central government should condemn the Karnataka government for this. The Central government should not permit the Karnataka government to build the Mekedatu dam without the consent of Tamil Nadu, a downstream irrigation state.