CM Vijay Urges Modi to Withhold Mekedatu Clearances Without TN Consent
CM Vijay raised concerns over the potential impact of the proposed 67.16 TMC reservoir across the Cauvery River, stating that it could affect the water flow and monthly deliveries to Tamil Nadu
Chennai: Expressing concern over the recent visit of Union Government officials to the proposed Mekedatu Dam site in Karnataka, raising anxiety among farmers in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately intervene and advise the Karnataka government to not proceed with the dam project without the consent of other Cauvery basin States.
In a letter to Modi on Saturday, Vijay, citing a Supreme Court order dated February 16, 2018, wanted the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change to refrain from undertaking any site inspections, technical evaluations, or granting any statutory or administrative clearances to the Mekedatu project without the consent of lower riparian States.
Insisting on deferring any further administrative or technical action arising from the recent site inspection, if it was undertaken by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Vijay said the proposed dam at Mekedatu across River Cauvery, with a huge capacity of 67.16 TMC, just upstream of the inter-State border would not only prevent the flows into Tamil Nadu but also prejudicially affect the monthly deliveries to the inhabitants of Cauvery basin of Tamil Nadu, as stipulated by the Supreme Court.
Drawing the immediate personal attention of the Prime Minister to the issue concerning the sustained water availability in the Cauvery basin and the growing apprehension among the farming community in Tamil Nadu over the proposed Mekedatu project and the related recent developments, Vijay said there had been frequent news reports on Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar meeting officials of the Union Ministries of Jal Shakti and Environment, Forest & Climate Change for clearance of the DPR for Mekedatu Project.
Earlier, a team of Union Government officers reportedly visited the proposed Mekedatu Dam site impelling the anxious farmers to view the site visit as an indication of tacit movement on a project that would jeopardize their very livelihood.
The purported site inspection had deepened the worries of those who were already struggling in this deficit water year of 2026–27 due to Karnataka’s denial to ensure Tamil Nadu received its due share even on pro-rata basis, he said
Inviting Modi’s kind attention to the letter dated July 28, in which he had requested to ensure that no statutory or administrative approval was granted to the Mekedatu Project, unless it was demonstrably consistent with the Final Award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) and the Supreme Court, Vijay said Tamil Nadu had filed an Original Application in the Principal Bench of National Green Tribunal on May 27, seeking, inter alia, to restrain MoEF & CC from granting any permission pending clearance of the inter State issues.
The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly also passed a unanimous resolution on June 19, reiterating that no clearance be given by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti to Karnataka as well as its instrumentalities and other related agencies, he said.
Besides, Tamil Nadu filed a Writ Petition on August 3 in the Supreme Court, praying to withdraw the Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Jal Shakti in December, 2025, on the preparation of DPR for irrigation and multi-purpose project proposals, exclusively for Cauvery basin, since the basin was held to be a deficit basin by the Tribunal in February, 2007 and the matter was still pending in the Supreme Court.
It was vital that the rights of lower riparian States regarding both the quantum and regulated pattern of monthly releases remained fully protected and consideration or examination of DPR of Mekedatu Project submitted by Karnataka or any unilateral technical evaluation or site inspection by central agencies at this juncture were highly inappropriate, Vijay said.