Centre makes a subtle change to stance on Karnataka needing Tamil Nadu’s consent for Mekedatu

The Union government has subtly altered its stance on Karnataka requiring consent from other Cauvery basin states for the Mekedatu dam project. Previously, on July 30, the government stated that the February 2018 Supreme Court judgment did not mention Karnataka needing consent from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry to build any structure across the Cauvery.

However, on August 10, the government now claims that the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) is responsible for regulating and implementing the award, as modified by the Supreme Court. The Central Water Commission (CWC) has also issued guidelines for assessing water resources projects in the Cauvery basin, based on 2017 norms for irrigation and multipurpose projects.

The CWMA is now supposed to provide its views on whether the proposed water utilization in the project complies with the CWDT award. In response to the initial government's stance, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting the government to withdraw its position. The CWMA and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) are set to hold separate meetings on Tuesday, August 11, to review the situation.

On July 28, the CWRC requested Karnataka to release 3,500 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of water from July 29 for 15 days, which equates to around 4.5 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft). As of now, the cumulative realization since June 1 is 11 tmc ft, with the State receiving approximately 7.4 tmc ft in the last 10 days. On Tuesday, Karnataka is expected to demand 37 tmc ft to be released by the State for the rest of the month.