K’taka can’t build dam sans TN nod, reiterates Shekawat

CHENNAI: Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has reaffirmed that Karnataka could not build the balancing reservoir across Cauvery river without Tamil Nadu’s consent, State Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan said on Wednesday.

Duraimurugan, who led an all-party delegation and called on the Union Minister at Delhi, claimed that like the assurances made in the past, the Union Minister told the delegation that Karnataka could not build a dam across the Cauvery without Tamil Nadu’s consent.

The delegation urged Shekhawat not to allow discussion on the Mekedatu dam project at the meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).

“Also, we conveyed to him that the CWMA is not empowered to discuss the Mekedatu dam issue,” Duraimurugan said.

When it was said that the Authority had obtained legal opinion to discuss the issue, the delegation pointed out that this view was not correct.

“We emphasised that Karnataka’s attempt to construct the Mekedatu dam is against the Supreme Court’s ruling,” Duraimurugan said.