Ex-PM Deve Gowda bats for Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir project

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Sunday batted for the Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir Project across the Cauvery river, which neighbouring Tamil Nadu has been opposing.

Tamil Nadu contends that the balancing reservoir will take away its share of Cauvery water and hence it has been opposing it.

In a press release, Gowda said the reservoir is necessary to provide drinking water to Bengaluru City and also regulated release of water to Tamil Nadu, including water release during lean periods.

Bengaluru is India's IT capital and it is second Silicon City in the world after San Francisco, he said, adding that at present the capacity of Cauvery water supply to Bengaluru city is 18 TMC (Thousand Million Cubic Feet).

The population of Bengaluru as noted by the Supreme Court was 96 lakh in 2011 whereas its present population has touched a phenomenal 1.35 crore, Gowda noted.

He added that the projected population of Bengaluru metropolitan region for 2044 would be about three crore for which the water requirement by lifting from the Cauvery river would be about 72.40 TMC as assessed by Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).

"Therefore, to meet the ever-growing demand for drinking water, it was decided to construct a balancing reservoir at Mekedatu site across river Cauvery near the border of Tamil Nadu," the JD(S) supremo said.

According to him, the pre-feasibility report of Mekedatu project was submitted to the Central Water Commission in April 2018 and CWC, after examination of the same, gave permission to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) in its letter dated November 22, 2018.