Mekedatu row: Karnataka trying to turn Tamil Nadu into a desert, EPS says

CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday condemned the Karnataka government’s attempts to build a dam in Mekedatu across the river Cauvery. The former CM warned the ‘Karnataka government’ that the AIADMK would resort to all forms of protests to prevent Tamil Nadu from becoming a desert.
EPS was responding to Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar’s address to irrigation department officials asking them to prioritise the dam construction.
Quoting the Interstate River Water Disputes Act and the final award of the Cauvery water disputes tribunal, Palaniswami said that no state had rights to impound the flows and divert the inter-state river water. The consent of the lower riparian states was required for execution of any project.
“Realizing that the rulers of Tamil Nadu are incapable, the neighbouring states have resorted to activities to turn Tamil Nadu into a desert. There is no use of relying on the administratively incompetent DMK government in the Mekedatu issue,” Palaniswami charged. He said the Cauvery has been a major water source for the Delta region and meeting the drinking water needs of 20 districts.
Palaniswami said the water resources minister of Tamil Nadu, Duraimurugan, instead of expressing strongest condemnation of the move, had issued a statement that was “just an eyewash.” “There is a suspicion among the people that this government is trying to betray the Delta farmers and people like how the Congress and the DMK were responsible for the deaths of several lakhs of Tamils in Sri Lanka,” Palaniswami alleged.
Former chief minister O Panneerselvam said the people of Tamil Nadu, especially the farmers, were shocked by Karnataka deputy chief minister’s keenness to prioritize construction of Mekedatu dam.
Stating that Shivakumar’s speech was akin to a ‘piercing a spear into the wounds,’ Panneerselvam said Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin should exert pressure on the Congress government and ensure that the latter gave up its illegal plan. “If it does not, I urge the chief minister to warn that he would snap ties with the Congress, and establish the rights of Tamil Nadu,” OPS said.
In a statement, CPI state secretary R Mutharasan said the tribunal and the Supreme Court had made it clear that no construction should be made across the river without the consent of the co-basin states. “The Union jal shakti ministry also assured that the rights of Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery waters would be protected. At this juncture, the words and actions of the Karnataka deputy chief minister will not create positive outcomes,” the Left leader said.
The CPI state executive committee also condemned Shivakumar's “irresponsible speech.”