CM Bommai to convene all-party meet on Mekedatu

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he would convene an all-party meet in the coming days on the Mekedatu dam issue, a bone of contention between the state and Tamil Nadu.

“In the coming days, I will convene an all-party meet. When it comes to the land and water-related issues, all political parties become one. We will take everyone along and proceed further,” he told reporters here.

Bommai said he was aware of the agitation by JD(S) leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on the issue.

The row between both the states has seen Karnataka asserting last month that work on the reservoir would start and protests in several parts of the Cauvery delta region in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry against the initiative.

The Rs 9,000 crore Mekedatu balancing reservoir and drinking water project across the Cauvery river in Ramanagar district aims at utilising 4.75 tmcft of water for drinking purposes in Bengaluru and neighbouring areas, besides generating 400 MW power. However, Tamil Nadu is opposed to it, saying that it will hamper the interests of the state and deprive its farmers of water for irrigation purposes.

In July, former CM Yediyurappa had written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, asking him not to stall the project as it was in the interest of both states to store water to meet the needs during distress years and offered to hold a bilateral meeting to resolve the differences.

Bommai had on Friday said the state would go ahead with the Mekedatu project at any cost. “Karnataka has rights over Cauvery and the Mekedatu dam project will be taken up at any cost. The detailed project report (DPR) is ready and will get approval soon, he had said.