Karnataka and Tamil Nadu leaders differ over consent for Mekedatu project

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to grant statutory or administrative approval for Karnataka’s proposed Mekedatu project without the consent of other Cauvery basin states. His letter said the proposed dam could store 67.16 TMC of water and could affect water flows to Tamil Nadu and supplies to residents and farmers in its Cauvery basin.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar said Tamil Nadu’s approval was not required, though its cooperation was needed. He said the project was intended to supply drinking water to Bengaluru and could generate 400 megawatts of electricity. He also said 5,400 hectares of forest would be submerged and that arrangements were being made to provide alternative forest land. Shivakumar said Karnataka remained committed to supplying Tamil Nadu 177 TMC of water under the court order.

Notable Points

• Historical Kaveri agreements: The 1892 General Agreement on Kaveri water had six rules; its 1924 revision ran for 50 years. It allowed Mysore to build the Krishna Raja Sagara dam and Madras to build the Mettur Dam. It assigned 75% of surplus water to Madras, 23% to Mysore and the remainder to Travancore-Cochin.
• Historical interim award and allocation mechanism: The 1991 interim award directed Karnataka to release 205 TMC annually to Tamil Nadu on a monthly schedule, and Tamil Nadu to release 6 TMC to Puducherry. Under the 2007 award, state allocations were reduced proportionately when basin water availability fell to 50% or less of a normal 740-TMC year; unused reservoir water was included in the calculation.
• 2018 Kaveri judgment and monitoring bodies: In 2018, the Supreme Court allocated 404.25 TMC to Tamil Nadu, 284.75 TMC to Karnataka, 30 TMC to Kerala and 7 TMC to Puducherry. It reserved 14 TMC for environmental flows and unavoidable discharge into the sea. The Union government constituted the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee in June 2018 to monitor releases.