K'taka CM seeks Centre's early nod for Mekedatu project on Cauvery river

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Saturday met Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and sought early nod for the proposed Rs 5,912-crore reservoir in Mekedatu on the Cauvery river.

Kumaraswamy, also asked the Centre to notify orders issued by both the tribunals on usage of its share of water from Mahadayi and Krishna rivers.

"In the meeting, the Union minister has assured that a gazette notification on Mahadayi and Krishna river water will be issued after discussion with state governments concerned," an official statement said.

The Krishna River Water Disputes Tribunal-II has allocated 166 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water to the state for irrigation and other purpose, while the Mahadayi River Water Disputes Tribunal has allocated 13.2 TMC of water to Karnataka.

Kumaraswamy said the state has not been able to use the allocated Krishna water in the absence of a gazette notification.

He said the state has not been able to take up a project to build a canal across Kalasa and Banduri, two tributaries of the Mahadayi river, to divert 7.56 TMC of water to the Malaprabha river in order to improve drinking water supply to Belagavi, Dharwad and Gadag districts.

Talking about Mekedatu project, the Karnataka chief minister said that there was no need to seek consent from Tamil Nadu for the proposed project.

The Karnataka government has already submitted a detailed project report (DPR) on Mekedatu project to the Central Water Commission, which aims to reduce the spillage of surplus water to sea and help meet drinking water needs of Bengaluru, which is located 110 km from Mekedatu in Kanakpura taluk, Ramanagara district, he added.