Sought Mekedatu nod in 2017: Siddu

NT Correspondent

Mysuru: Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, though it is three years since the Congress sent the Detailed Project Report for the Mekedatu project when the party was in power, the project is yet to be cleared.

Addressing more than 5,000 people and Congress party workers at the Congress’ Janandolana convention at Chamarajnagar on Sunday to mobilise people for the Mekedatu padayatra, Mr Siddaramaiah said, “The Congress government had proposed the Mekedatu project in 1968 itself. During our tenure, the DPR for the balancing reservoir project worth Rs 5912 Crores was sent in 2017. Further when Mr D K Shivakumar was irrigation minister a revised DPR worth Rs 9000 Crore was sent to the Central water commission three years ago. It is a drinking water project, so no one can obstruct it. It just needs clearance from the forest department. Minister Mr Govind Karjol says he has document to prove that we are responsible for the delay. Let him release those documents. What are they (BJP government) doing since two and a half years. The Central government is not clearing the project and is listening to the BJP in Tamil Nadu,” he said.

He explained, “The four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin including Harangi, Hemavathi, Kabini and KRS reservoirs can hold only 115 TMC of water. If Mekedatu comes up, it can hold 66 TMC o f water and benefit 30 percent of Bengalureans who are not getting Cauvery water. It will also benefit people of Hassan, Mandya, Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajngar, Bengaluru and Tumakuru districts. It will helpsin production of 400 mega watt electricity. When there is not enough rain in that state, we can release adequate water to Tamil Nadu too. Tamil Nadu is objecting to the project for political reasons,” Mr Siddaramaiah said.

He said, “When I was CM I released Rs 10,000 Crores to Chamarajnagar for its development since it was considered a backward district. The BJP government has not envisaged any programmes for the district in the past two and half years.” he said. On the Covid situation in the state, the former CM said, “Though health minister Mr Sudhakar claimed that only three people died due to oxygen shortage in Chamarajnagar during the second wave, officers of the district have confessed to us that it was actually 36 people. The BJP government is directly responsible for this,” he said.