Tamil Nadu Assembly Opposes Karnataka's Mekedatu Dam Project, Seeks Tribunal

The Tamil Nadu Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution opposing Karnataka's proposed Mekedatu dam project across the Cauvery river, reigniting a long-standing dispute between the two states. The resolution, passed on June 19, demands that the Union government refer the matter to a tribunal for adjudication.

The project, estimated to cost ₹9,000 crore, aims to build a drinking water-cum-balancing reservoir with a capacity of 67.16 thousand million cubic feet (TMC ft) at Mekedatu, about 100 km from Bengaluru. It includes a 400 MW hydro power component but no irrigation component. Karnataka states that the project is intended to meet Bengaluru's drinking water needs, for which the Supreme Court in its 2018 judgment on the Cauvery dispute had allocated an additional 4.75 TMC ft to the state.

However, Tamil Nadu views the proposal with suspicion, citing a trust deficit between the two riparian states. The lower riparian state argues that since the Cauvery is a deficit river, no new projects should be permitted. Tamil Nadu also points to Karnataka's history of not adhering to water-sharing agreements.

Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has asserted that the reservoir would benefit Tamil Nadu as well by regulating flood flows from the upstream Krishnaraja Sagar and Kabini dams to the Mettur dam in Tamil Nadu. Despite this, the Tamil Nadu Assembly has passed motions against the project multiple times over the past decade.

A new development is Tamil Nadu's formal request for a tribunal to examine the project's feasibility. The state government sent a communication to the Centre on March 4, but it remained undisclosed until June 19, when the resolution was adopted. The previous DMK government had made this decision but kept it silent, and the current Tamilaga Vettri Kahagam government followed suit. Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin revealed the request in the assembly and urged Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to include it in the resolution, which he did. However, former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami of the AIADMK pointed out a procedural lapse in how the amendment was incorporated.

Historically, Tamil Nadu's pursuit of a tribunal for the Cauvery dispute involved 23 bilateral and multi-stakeholder meetings with Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, and the Centre. In contrast, no such meetings have occurred on the Mekedatu issue in the past 15 years. Under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, the Centre can refer a dispute to a tribunal only if it is convinced that negotiations have failed. It remains unclear whether the Union government will accede to Tamil Nadu's request, and even if it does, success in scrapping the project is not guaranteed.