Cauvery tribunal unlikely to take up Makedatu dam issue

The Cauvery Tribunal meeting, which is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on June 16, is unlikely to dicuss the Mekedatu Dam issue which has been a bone of contention between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Aftre the Congress government in Karnataka announed that it has allocated an amount of Rs 8000 crore for the construction of Mekedatu Dam across Cauvery, pressure has started to build in Tamil Nadu. The state’s Water Resources Minister S. Duraimurugan said that Tamil Nadu would not allow any construction across the Cauvery.

Meanwhile, the Cauvery Tribunal has said that it will not take any decision regarding the issue as the tribunal has taken a position of ‘uniform stand’ on the issue pertaining to Mekedatu or any other issue associated with Cauvery basin as the matter is before the Supreme Court.

Tamil Nadu has been consistently opposing Karnataka raising the Mekdatu dam issue. In the petition filed before the Supreme Court, Tamil Nadu has said that the planning of the Mekedatu dam across the Cauvery river was in gross violation of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal verdict of February 5, 2007.

As per sources in Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department, the state will try to push the case of Mekedatu Dam before the Cauvery Tribunal.