Proposed Mekedatu Dam will make Tamil Nadu "desert": AIADMK leader Udhayakumar
Oct 15, 2023
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 15 : AIADMK leader and Tamil Nadu's deputy leader of the opposition RB Udhayakumar said that if Karnataka builds the Mekedatu Dam Tamil Nadu would become a "desert".
He slammed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin for not condemning the Karnataka Government for allocating funds in the budget for the construction of the dam.
"Our Cauvery rights are being undermined under this government. If Mekedatu Dam is built, Tamil Nadu will become a desert. Stalin has not yet condemned the Karnataka government for allocating funds in the budget for the construction of the Mekedatu Dam," Udhayakumar said.
Mekedatu is located along Kaveri at the border of Chamarajanagar and Ramanagara Districts of Karnataka.
In August this year, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the construction of the proposed Mekedatu project, a balancing reservoir, in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka, is the only solution to the Cauvery water-sharing row with the neighbouring States.
The Tamil Nadu government has claimed that the project is "illegal" and that it will not stand before the law.
In January 2022, Karnataka Congress leaders embarked on a padayatra to seek all clearances from the Centre to implement the project.
Udhayakumar also accused the DMK government of releasing the water from the Mettur dam without conducting a survey
"Stalin government released the water from the Mettur dam without conducting a survey saying that there was 100 feet of water in the dam. As a result, the water level has gone below 31 feet after 44 years. CM Stalin had no proper planning. They do something for publicity. Today, our Cauvery rights have been taken away and the crops in the delta are charred and look like a desert," Udhayakumar said.
He also said that for the last two years, the DMK government in the state did not provide insurance for Rabi cultivation
"But when our government was in such a situation, we insured cultivation and paid 84 thousand per acre through disaster management fund and insurance scheme," Udhayakumar said.
He alleged that the law and order situation has deteriorated in the state.
" Not a day goes by where murder, robbery, rape and kidnapping do not happen in Tamil Nadu. Even if we raise our voice against this in the assembly, we are not allowed to speak," he said.
He also alleged that no government department in the state is "fully functional" in the state.
