Vaiko raps Jal Sakthi Minister over Mekedatu

“Karnataka Minister for Water Resources Ramesh Jarkiholi met Shekhawat in Delhi on Wednesday and urged the Centre to give permission to Karnataka to construct Mekedatu dam. Following their meeting, Shekhawat too had agreed to extend cooperation to Karnataka over Mekedatu dam which is against the interests of Tamil Nadu,” said Vaiko, in a statement.

According to reports, Karnataka government had allotted Rs 9,000 crore to construct Mekedatu reservoir to store 67.16 TMC of water and supply it to Bengaluru to meet the water demands of the city. Karnataka is also planning to generate 400 MW of electricity through the facility.

Vaiko claims that if the dam is constructed Karnataka will not honour the judgment of Cauvery Tribunal. “Going by the judgment of Cauvery Tribunal, Karnataka had to supply 177.25 TMC of water per year to TN, but if Mekedatu dam is constructed TN will not get a single drop of water,” said Vaiko. He also questioned that when the case against construction of Mekedatu dam is pending in Supreme Court how can Union Minister assure Karnataka of cooperation for construction of a dam.