Stating that the Mekedatu balancing reservoir issue should be seen through the prism of the humanitarian crisis in Bengaluru and not through party politics, Janata Dal (Secular) supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on Sunday said all the political parties in Karnataka should be united in the fight for Mekedatu even as he appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and clear permissions.
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“(Tamil Nadu Chief Minister) M.K. Stalin has put the Mekedatu issue in his party (DMK) manifesto (not to allow the Mekedatu project). We will put it in our manifesto to complete the project. All of us had put Mekedatu in our manifesto earlier. I appeal to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to include the issue in their respective party manifestos. We have to be together in our fight and let us stand together. It is not the question of individual glory or party politics,” the former Prime Minister told presspersons here.
He said the Prime Minister should give clearance to the project based on the official estimates that about 30 tmcft of water can be utilised for Bengaluru. “He knows the issue. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal has been silent on the issue. The counsel for Tamil Nadu has submitted before the Supreme Court that Karnataka should consider building a dam above the Mettur reservoir to solve the water problem.”
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Mr. Gowda said that the Central Water Commission had computed that the balance available for Karnataka at Biligundlu at 30.65 tmcft and that this important computation has not been considered by the Cauvery Water Management Authority and Tamil Nadu for unreasonable objections on the project.
Blames Tamil Nadu
When he was asked if this was the failure of the State government, the former Prime Minister blamed Tamil Nadu for the issue and said: “It is not the question of the failure of the State government, but Tamil Nadu has been filing petitions every now and then. (the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu) late M. Karunandihi took maximum advantage during six years of the Vajapayee government and 10 years during the Manmohan Singh government.” Stating that Karunanidhi had not cooperated with the State’s efforts on Mekedatu earlier, Mr. Gowda said: “Karunanidhi had told me then that the Cauvery is the only issue in Tamil Nadu politics that the parties fight on.”
Appealing to environmentalists not to object to the Mekedatu project, he said: “Some environmentalists have objected to the project stating that 5,000 acres of forests will be submerged. In my opinion, about 1,000 acres will be submerged as it is a plain terrain. Drinking water should be the first priority.”