Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday “strongly” urged his Karnataka counterpart BS Yediyurappa not to pursue the controversial Mekedatu project, which has become a bone of contention between the two states.
Stalin’s reply has come a day after BS Yediyurappa asked him not to oppose the project citing it will help both the states immensely.
On Saturday, the Karnataka Chief Minister appealed to Stalin in a letter to not oppose the Mekedatu balancing reservoir-cum-drinking water project and also proposed a bilateral meeting to clear apprehensions.
Rejecting Karnataka’s stand that implementation of this project would not affect the interests of Tamil Nadu farmers, Stalin, in a letter to Yediyurappa, said that this view cannot be agreed upon and listed the reasons for it.
In his reply to the Karnataka CM, MK Stalin said, “On the issue of the Mekedatu balancing reservoir, I wish to state the comparison of that project intended for storing of 67.16 TMC water, with the two hydropower projects of Tamil Nadu would not be correct. Let me clarify at the very outset that there is no consumption of water in these two hydropower projects, with the available water being just re-circulated by pumping to meet peak power demand.”
“Since there is no additional usage created, both the projects do not affect the availability of water for irrigation or drinking usage in Tamil Nadu. Hence, I wish to again emphasize that the comparison of such qualitatively different projects is not appropriate,” he stressed.
He went on to add that, “While the drawl of water from the river for drinking water usage in Bengaluru Cosmopolitan City has been permitted by the Supreme Court, citing that as the reason for constructing such a major reservoir at Mekedatu, which is too far away from Bengaluru Metropolitan area does not sound valid.”
“Further, when Karnataka already has adequate infrastructure for drawing drinking water to meet the demand of Bengaluru Metropolitan area even now, the justification of the need for a reservoir with a storage capacity of 67.16 TMC to utilise 4.75 TMC as drinking water is not at all acceptable. This would definitely jeopardise the availability of water to Tamil Nadu,” he added.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister concluded his letter by strongly urging BS Yediyurappa not to pursue the project and conveyed his good wishes to the people of Karnataka and hoped for good co-operation and relationship between the two states.
