Only BJP can bring water from the Mekedatu project to Bengaluru: CM Bommai

People of Bengaluru have the faith that only a BJP government can bring water from the Mekedatu project to Bengaluru, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Tuesday.

He said this after inaugurating the newly built Atal Bihari Vajpayee Indoor Stadium in Hosur-Sarjapur Road (HSR) layout.

The CM said that the provisions have been made in the Detailed Reports Project (DPR) for the Yettinahole project to bring 2,000 Million Cubic (TMC) feet of water to meet the drinking water needs of Bengaluru.

“The Mekedatu project started in 1996 when I was the Irrigation Minister. In 1996 the Karnataka Power Corporation had prepared the DPR for the Mekedatu project for power generation. It was delayed due to ambiguity by the Union government. Now the DPR has been given a new dimension as a drinking water project,” Bommai said.

The Mekedatu balancing reservoir-cum drinking water project, to be constructed across the Cauvery river basin, has been the centre of controversy between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Citing the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu dispute over the Mekedatu project, Bommai said, “They turned a simple project into a complex problem and are now staging a protest. Is it right?”

“What moral right do they have to protest? People of Bengaluru can see through this. So they are not bothered about this protest. The people believe that only a BJP government can bring the water from Mekedatu,” Bommai added.