Mekedatu, Kanakpura: Is Karnataka going to go ahead with building a check dam on the Cauvery at Mekedatu?
As the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday announced that it would approach the Supreme Court to stop Karnataka from constructing any more dams, the state Water Resource Department seems bent on going ahead with the water storage and power generation plant across the Cauvery in Mekedatu.
Over the last three days, Media has spotted three helicopters hovering over the Mekedatu and Sangama taking pictures of the water course and conducting an aerial survey of the possible areas where a dam could be built. The state government has announced that it had consulted legal experts before taking up the water project which it hopes will help to simultaneously solve both the capital’s perennial drinking water crisis as well as provide Tamil Nadu with surplus water.
The plan however has environmentalists, warning against any further fragmentation of the elephant habitat and saying that with Mekedatu, an integral part of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, permission to change the topography in any way is mandatory from the National Board for Wildlife, New Delhi.
“This is the third time the state government is coming up with ‘damming’ proposal in and around Mekedatu. We have said a clear no to the Water Resource Department in the past as the proposed dam area is bang in the middle of the forest area which is home to tigers and elephants. The Cauvery forests and adjoining M M Hills are the next best place for tiger population in Karnataka. Any kind of water project or electricity generation plant will harm the ecology of the area,” said a senior forest official.
Minister for Water Resources, Mr M B Patil is hopeful the union government and the courts will not halt the project. “We have told the Tamil Nadu government that if a dam comes up at Mekedatu we could release extra water to them whenever it is needed. During June months we are directed to release 10 TMC of water and if the dam of 45 TMC capacity is built across Mekedatu we could send 5 TMC extra water to farmers in Tamil Nadu” he said.
Saying the state will soon have a ‘Water Atlas’ and for which aerial survey will begin anytime soon, he said: “The idea is to identify water resources in the state so that we can tackle water scarcity.
The dam in Mekedatu will rejuvenate several water-bodies in the catchment area,” he added.
