CHENNAI: Chief minister M K Stalin on Saturday announced that a delegation of legislature party leaders led by water resources minister Duraimurugan would soon meet Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in Delhi. The decision comes in the wake of the statement of Cauvery Water Management Authority chairman S K Haldar that Karnataka’s Mekedatu dam plan would be discussed in its June 23 meeting despite the state government’s objection. This comes close on the heels of Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai calling on the Union minister in Delhi for the execution of the project.
In a statement, the chief minister recalled his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week to instruct the Union ministry of Jal Shakti to advise the chairman of the CWMA to desist from taking up any discussion on the project till the issues were heard and decided by the Supreme Court. The state government had filed three petitions against Mekedatu dam and a fourth petition on June 7 against discussion in CWMA. “The statement made by the CMWA chairman is shocking. Do they have the power to make such arbitrary decisions? When an issue is before the Supreme Court, the CWMA does not have the power to discuss it. It is illegal for the CWMA chairman to say that we will discuss it despite knowing these,” Stalin said.
The chief minister said the Centre should not yield to pressure from the Karnataka government. “We will not allow construction of Mekedatu dam. It is wrong to discuss the issue in the meeting of CWMA. The state government will continue its legal battle in the Supreme Court and strive for its rights over Cauvery,” he said.
Accusing the Karnataka government of taking up various measures to reduce water supply to Tamil Nadu, Stalin said the dam plan was a huge betrayal of farmers of Tamil Nadu, and against the principles of federalism, the orders of the Supreme Court and the laws and rules. “The firm and final position of the Tamil Nadu government is that the construction of Mekedatu dam should not be granted permission and the issue should not be discussed at the CWMA meeting,” the chief minister said, recalling the measures taken by the state against the project. The state legislature had passed a unanimous resolution against the project.
