Farmers Movement Archive

No compromise on Mekedatu water project, says Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai

BENGALURU: Notwithstanding the protest by Tamil Nadu’s BJP unit, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday asserted there will be no “compromise” on Mekedatu project, which the state wants to undertake across Cauvery river. He said neighbouring Tamil Nadu is opposing it for the sake of politics. “I don’t care who goes on strike. They are playing politics for the sake of politics on this issue. Be it DMK, AIADMK or even my own party (BJP), there is no compromise on the construction of Mekedatu reservoir as it’s well within our right and we will go ahead with the project,” Bommai told reporters. The CM’s comments came on a day when the TN unit of BJP led by its president K Annamalai, a former Karnataka-cadre IPS officer, staged a hunger strike in Thanjavur against Karnataka’s move to build a reservoir on the Cauvery at Mekedatu. Thanjavur, a fertile Cauvery delta region, is described as Tamil Nadu’s “rice bowl”. Bommai said everyone is aware the project is for drinking water, power generation and sharing of water during distress period, and referred to his meeting with Union jal shakti minister along with a delegation of MPs from the state on this. “I’m confident the DPR will be approved at the earliest. We will also get other clearances... If anyone is protesting, we have nothing to do with it. It is being done for politics, we will not take it into account,” he added. Addressing the protesters at Thanjavur, Annamalai claimed the law was clearly in favour of the lower riparian state (TN) and that Karnataka could not go ahead with the project without its consent. “The Inter-State River Water Disputes Act is clear. You cannot build the dam without the consent of the lower riparian state. BJP always stands for the well-being of farmers and it will not allow the construction of Mekedatu reservoir,” he asserted. Mekedatu is a multipurpose project, which involves building a balancing reservoir near Kanakapura in Ramanagara district. Karnataka farmers want to ‘educate’ Tamil Nadu counterparts:Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha president Badagalapura Nagendra on Thursday said farmers will “educate their Tamil Nadu counterparts about the benefits of Mekedatu project” during the protest against the Centre’s farm laws scheduled on August 21-22. Burning issue: A file photo of various pro-Kannada activists protesting Tamil Nadu's opposition to Mekedatu drinking water projectHe said Tamil Nadu farmers are protesting against the three farm laws and have invited the farming community in Karnataka to join them. “Farmers in the neighbouring state have been misled about the Mekedatu project by politicians who are spreading false information that they would be inconvenienced,” Nagendra alleged.

The Times of India

2021-08-06

Bengaluru