Mekedatu issue: Pondy assembly to hold special session on

The Puducherry government would convene a special assembly session Friday to adopt a resolution urging the Centre to withdraw its permission given to Karnataka government to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for its proposed dam across river Cauvery in Mekedatu.

Speaker of the Assembly V Vaithilingam reconvened the session in response to the pleas made separately by the DMK (an ally of the ruling Congress) and the opposition AIADMK and it is likely that the session would be held for a day, official sources said.

Legislators R Siva of DMK and A Anbalagan of AIADMK had presented letters to Speaker recently seeking a special session to condemn the Centre's decision to grant permission to Karnataka for preparing a DPR.

Raising apprehensions that construction of a dam across Cauvery would curtail availability of water for the lower riparian states including Puducherry, they demanded scrapping of the move.

The Central Water Commission had last month given its go-ahead to Karnataka for preparing a DPR for a proposed balancing reservoir-cum-drinking water project at Mekedatu.

The Tamil Nadu government has also opposed the Centre's nod for the DPR, holding that the proposed dam would affect its rights.