Cauvery authority has no jurisdiction over Mekedatu dam: TN Minister

Chennai, Aug 28 Tamil Nadu water Resources Minister S. Duraimurugan on Friday said that the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) has no jurisdiction over the proposed Mekedatu dam, as the matter is sub judice.

Noting there were reports on the CWMA discussing the Mekedatu dam issue, he held that it does not have any jurisdiction to discuss it at all.

Responding to questions of members in the Assembly, the octogenarian DMK leader said: "We have filed a petition in the Supreme Court against construction of a dam at Mekedatu and we have also filed a contempt petition in the Central Water Commission against the detailed project report (DPR) of the proposed dam. When the matter is in the Supreme Court, it is sub judice to discuss the issue in the Cauvery Water Management Authority. It is the stand of Tamil Nadu that it cannot be discussed."

He hoped that Karnataka Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai, who is the son of former Chief Minister S.R. Bommai who was close to late DMK patriarch Kalaignar Karunanidhi, would not deviate from justice. Also recalling that S.R. Bommai was a towering leader of Karnataka and had filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the Central government misusing Article 356 to dismiss elected state governments, Duraimurugan expressed hope that a person with such a rich legacy would always stand by justice.

The minister said that he had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and the latter had told him clearly that his ministry would accept the DPR only if Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry grants permission.

Duraimurugan agreed with AIADMK member K. Sengottayian that none could defeat Tamil Nadu if everyone stood together. He cited the example of all the parties in the state standing united against the imposition of Hindi while supporting the two language policy.

He said that it was only after the state had approached Supreme Court on the suggestion of Karunanidhi that the state could get 205 TMC of water from the Cauvery river.