TN government moves SC on Mekedatu dam issue
The Tamilnadu government has moved the Supreme Court seeking to restrain Karnataka from proceeding with any activity regarding the proposed construction of a reservoir at Mekedatu across the Inter-State Cauvery river.
The Tamilnadu government in its plea stated that the planning of the Mekedatu project by Karnataka with a capacity of 67.16 TMC ft. and generation of 400 MW power at a cost of about Rs 9,000 crore is in gross violation of the decision of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
The petition said that the entire object and intendment of the final decision of the tribunal as modified by the top court is to ensure that the pattern of the release of water to the downstream State to meet the irrigation interests are not jeopardized. “The proposed construction by Karnataka would have a cascading effect on the daily and monthly inflows during the crucial months of June to September as stipulated in the Final Order of the Tribunal as affirmed by this Court resulting in prejudicing the livelihood of lakhs of inhabitants of Tamilnadu depending on the flows from the upstream in Karnataka,” the plea said.