Tamil Nadu Assembly Passes Resolution Opposing Karnataka's Mekedatu Dam Project

The Tamil Nadu legislative assembly in Chennai on Friday unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to deny all technical and environmental clearances for Karnataka's proposed Mekedatu dam project. The resolution, which was moved by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, strongly objected to Karnataka's unilateral efforts to build a dam across the Cauvery river.

According to the resolution, Karnataka's proposal violates the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal’s final award of 2007 as well as the Supreme Court’s 2018 order. The assembly noted that the project is being pursued without the consent of other basin states or any official approval from the Union government, declaring that such an action is not at all acceptable.

The state government highlighted that both the tribunal and the Supreme Court have already classified the Cauvery basin as a deficit basin. Because the available water has already been fully apportioned among the sharing states, the resolution argued that no new projects can be initiated and no additional water can be utilized in the basin.

Describing the Cauvery issue as a highly sensitive matter between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the resolution formally urged the Union government to advise the Karnataka government not to undertake the construction of a dam or any new water storage project at Mekedatu or any other location in the Cauvery basin. It stated that any such project must not proceed without the concurrence of the other basin states and the approval of the Union government.

Additionally, the assembly called on the Central Water Commission to refuse to examine, process, or approve the detailed project report submitted by the Karnataka government. Members of the assembly unanimously supported the state government's ongoing measures to block the dam project and protect the interests of Tamil Nadu's farmers.