DMK manifesto promising to stop Mekedatu: Karnataka BJP chief targets Congress government

Bengaluru: The Congress government in Karnataka has "sacrificed" the drinking water needs of the state's farmers and citizens for the "selfish" coalition politics of I.N.D.I.A. bloc, state BJP President B Y Vijayendra alleged on Thursday, following DMK's promise to stop construction of Mekedatu dam in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls.

Voting for the Congress would be detrimental to the interests of the state, he said, as he took a dig at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his government in a post on 'X' with "#WeakestCM #NammaKaveriNammaHakku (Our Cauvery Our Right)."

Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK, a key constituent of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, in its manifesto released on Wednesday promised stopping construction of Mekedatu dam.

"DMK Manifesto exposes the Siddaramaiah govt's clandestine arrangement with M K Stalin (Tamil Nadu CM) that has cost us our lifeline "Cauvery", the primary source of Drinking Water & Irrigation purposes for our farmers, during the time of a severe drought," Vijayendra said.

He said, this very much explains the government's "lackadaisical attitude" in fighting for the state's rightful share of Cauvery water with the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), that has resulted in Karnataka releasing water in abundance to Tamil Nadu, "more than our share."

"It's no wonder if DMK would leverage its alliance power to bargain for more Cauvery water & STOP the Mekedatu project, in case the I.N.D.I.Alliance comes into power. Voting for Congress would be detrimental to the interests of our state. Only Karnataka BJP can do justice to our state," he added.

A separate Project Division and two Sub-Divisions have already been set up to implement the ambitious Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir and drinking water project of Cauvery river valley, Siddaramaiah had said, presenting the state budget last month.

A survey to identify land that will be submerged under this project and the counting process of trees have already been initiated, he had also said, adding "action will be taken on priority to commence the work early after obtaining remaining necessary clearances from the competent authorities."

Mekedatu is a multi-purpose (drinking water and power) project proposed by Karnataka, which involves building a balancing reservoir near Kanakapura in Ramanagara district.

Neighbouring Tamil Nadu has been opposing the project, raising apprehensions that the state would be affected if the project takes shape.

The project, once completed, is aimed at ensuring drinking water to Bengaluru and neighbouring areas (4.75 TMC) and also can generate 400 MW power, and the estimated cost of the project is Rs 9,000 crore (2019 rates).