File Photo: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today accused his Tamil Nadu counterpart of "politicising" the Mekedatu dam project across river Cauvery and reaffirmed his government's commitment to go ahead with the project.
"There is no legal hurdle to the project. There is no violation of Tribunal award. Jayalalithaa is creating this fuss for political reasons. She is using the issue for her political benefits," Mr Siddaramaiah told reporters in Bengaluru.
"At any cost we will go ahead with the project," he said.
During her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Chennai yesterday, Ms Jayalalithaa had submitted a memorandum to him that included her government's opposition to the proposed Mekedatu dam project.
The project, Ms Jayalalithaa had said, was "in violation" of the final award and urged Mr Modi to advise Karnataka not to proceed with the project without Tamil Nadu's concurrence.
In the memorandum, she had also demanded that the Centre should immediately form the Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee for implementing the final award given by the disputes tribunal.
Mr Siddaramaiah in his budget speech on March 13 had proposed preparing a detailed project report for construction of balancing reservoir on the upstream of Mekedatu across Cauvery river.
He had said Global Expression of Interest had been invited and a sum of Rs 25 crore provided in the coming fiscal.
After these announcements, farmers belonging to both the states had called for bandh separately expressing their sentiments for and against the project. Both the state governments had also led a delegation to the Prime Minister to put forward their case.