Tamil Nadu Assembly adopts resolution against Karnataka’s Mekedatu dam plan

The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution against the Karnataka government’s plan to construct the Mekedatu dam on the Cauvery river, The Hindu reported.

The resolution, moved by Chief Minister Vijay, said that the House was objecting to the “unilateral attempt” by Karnataka to build the dam “without respecting” the final award given by Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in 2007 and the Supreme Court’s judgement in 2018.

The project entails building a reservoir in a deep gorge at the confluence of the river Cauvery with its tributary Arkavathi in the Ramanagara district. The project aims to provide drinking water to Bengaluru and nearby areas and also to generate 400 megawatts of power. It will cost about Rs 9,000 crore.

Tamil Nadu has claimed that it will impede the free flow of water from the Cauvery into the state.

The distribution of Cauvery water has been a long-standing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. It dates back to two agreements in 1892 and 1924 between the erstwhile Madras Presidency and the Princely State of Mysore.

The Union government set up the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in 1990, which delivered its verdict in 2007. The tribunal allocated 419 thousand million cubic feet of water per year to Tamil Nadu and 270 thousand million cubic...

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