Mekedatu project: K'taka all party delegation to visit Delhi

Bengaluru, March 18

The Karnataka government has decided to take an all party delegation to New Delhi to meet the Union Minister for Water Resources for demanding speedy implementation of the controversial Mekedatu project.

Speaking to reporters Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday made this announcement after chairing an all party meeting on the Mekedatu project in the Vidhan Soudha.

Bommai stated that very important matters were discussed at the all party meeting. "We have written a letter to the central government to discuss the clearance issue at the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) immediately," he said.

The CWMA should give clearance for the DPAR of Mekedatu in the next meeting. Environment clearance should also be given. The government would talk to the Union Water Resources Ministry to conduct a meeting in this regard. "Our Water Resources Minister Govind Karajol will go to New Delhi and convey our concerns," he stated.

"After the session I will go to New Delhi and coney our concerns on the Upper Krishna project as well as the Mekedatu project. After all these exercises, an all party delegation will be taken to New Delhi," Bommai stated. He declined to answer a question on whether he is planning to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.

Opposition leader Siddaramaiah stated that they have told Bommai that there is no dispute with regard to the Mekedatu project. "We have asked the government to obtain the environment clearance at the earliest," he said. Tamil Nadu does not have any right to object to the Mekedatu project, he said.