Siddaramaiah urges PM to give clearance for Mekedatu project

Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi ‘condemning the statement made by Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on the issue of the Mekedatu reservoir project.’

He also urged Modi to take necessary steps to ensure clearance for the Mekedatu project at the earliest.

In the letter, Siddaramaiah mentioned the remarks made by Shekhawat on February 5 which stated, “I hope and wish that both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will resolve it, like how Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh did it. The two states have now agreed to connect Ken and Betwa rivers in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.”

“Any issue can be resolved if talks are held. The Centre can only facilitate and help technically, and for that, both states have to come forward,” the minister said. The Congress leader said that these remarks have hurt the sentiments of the people of Karnataka who are patiently waiting for the central government to give environmental clearance for the project.

He said Shekhawat’s remarks are “politically motivated” to make inroads to Tamil Nadu and an attempt to mislead the people of Karnataka. He said that Karnataka has technical, moral, and legal rights to access excess water after releasing the rightful share of Tamil Nadu.

“About 60-70 TMC of excess water flows to Tamil Nadu every year from Cauvery basin in Karnataka, which otherwise, can be judiciously used to provide drinking water to Bengaluru and surrounding districts,” Siddaramaiah stated.

Further, he said that the Mekedatu reservoir will serve the best purpose in storing this excess water and also generate 400 MW of electricity and Tamil Nadu is using the Cauvery issue just for political masons.

Slamming the Centre over Mekedatu project, he said, “it is clear that your government at the Centre has failed to grant necessary clearances and the state government has failed to enlighten the urgency of the project.”