Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 26 (ANI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Tuesday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to instantly intervene and cease Karnataka from continuing with the proposed Mekedatu Reservoir Project throughout the Cauvery River, alleging that the transfer violates Supreme Court orders and the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) award.
In an in depth letter addressed to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister expressed deep concern over Karnataka’s announcement of a ‘Bhoomi Puja’ for the Mekedatu mission. He said that the event has created widespread nervousness amongst farmers in Tamil Nadu who depend upon the Cauvery waters for agriculture and livelihood.
The Tamil Nadu authorities argued that the Mekedatu mission was by no means authorized below the CWDT Final Award, which was later upheld by the Supreme Court in its landmark judgment dated February 16, 2018. The letter burdened that the Cauvery basin is already categorised as a water-deficient basin and that the accessible water has been totally allotted among the many riparian States.
‘You could also be properly conscious {that a} answer to the delicate Cauvery water dispute was obtained after a protracted authorized battle, lasting about three many years, and the Judgment dated February 16, 2018, is below implementation. Mekedatu Project shouldn’t be within the record of tasks permitted by the Tribunal, which has been affirmed by the above-mentioned Judgment. There is not any scope for added utilization or for creating a brand new enormous storage reservoir, because the Cauvery basin is discovered to be a deficit basin and the accessible water at 50 per cent dependability has already been allotted to the get together States. Therefore, planning any new mission throughout Cauvery or its tributaries, aside from these particularly permitted by the Tribunal in its Final Award as affirmed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in its Judgment, would tantamount to interfering with the stated Judgment,’ Vijay stated in his letter.
According to the Chief Minister, Karnataka’s proposal to construct a large reservoir with a storage capability of 67.16 TMC close to the Tamil Nadu border might hinder the pure movement of water that Tamil Nadu is entitled to obtain below the Tribunal’s award and the Supreme Court verdict.
The letter additional highlighted that the Supreme Court had clearly dominated that higher riparian States should not undertake actions that have an effect on the scheduled water deliveries to decrease riparian States. In this context, Tamil Nadu alleged that Karnataka’s try to assemble the reservoir quantities to a direct violation of the Court’s judgment.
The Chief Minister additionally identified that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) had earlier declined to grant Terms of Reference (ToR) for an Environmental Impact Assessment because of unresolved inter-State disputes surrounding the mission.
Criticising the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Central Water Commission (CWC), the Tamil Nadu authorities questioned why Karnataka’s proposal was nonetheless being entertained regardless of robust objections from Tamil Nadu.
‘Under this circumstance, I request you to instruct the involved officers within the Ministry of Jal Shakti, as properly within the Central Water Commission (CWC) to reject the DPR of Mekedatu mission proposal, as it’s in contravention to the Final Award of CWDT dated February 5, 2007, and the Judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and likewise advise the Government of Karnataka to not take up any new mission with out getting the concurrence of co-basin States and to not violate the Judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in totality,’ Vijay additional affirmed.
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Keralam and Puducherry have a long-standing dispute over the Cauvery River water, with the proposed Mekedatu dam being a brand new chapter within the battle between the 2 bordering states. (ANI)