Overview
- On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu chief minister C. Joseph Vijay wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and met him in New Delhi to ask the Union Jal Shakti Ministry and the Central Water Commission to reject Karnataka’s draft Detailed Project Report for the Mekedatu reservoir.
- Karnataka leaders including deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar say the state is preparing a new DPR and will press ahead with planning and ceremonial steps for the project despite Tamil Nadu’s objections.
- Tamil Nadu argues the Mekedatu plan would contravene the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal’s 2007 final award and the Supreme Court’s February 16, 2018 judgment that limit new storage in the deficit Cauvery basin.
- Environmental and farm groups warn the draft DPR would cut downstream flows and harm livelihoods, claiming the proposal could threaten drinking water for tens of millions and damage millions of acres of farmland, while the MoEFCC’s expert committee in 2019 returned Karnataka’s earlier ToR request pending an interstate resolution.
- The dispute now shifts to central agencies and the courts because the Supreme Court has earlier said the CWC should determine technical permissibility, and their assessments will decide whether administrative clearances or fresh litigation follow.