Karnataka dam issue: Tamil Nadu to urge Centre to set up tribunal

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday said it would urge the Centre to set up a tribunal to resolve the issue arising out of a dam constructed by Karnataka government across Markandeya Nadi, a tributary of Pennaiyar.
Political parties in Tamil Nadu condemned the Karnataka government for ‘unilateral’ construction of the dam and urged the state government to take up legal action to remove the structure.
In a statement, Duraimurugan said the Central Water Commission had reviewed the work in 2017 itself, and the Karnataka government too informed that it had built a dam of 0.5tmcft capacity to meet the drinking water needs and to recharge the water table. In 2019, the Karnataka government announced that it had almost completed the dam. “TN government continuously opposed it. It had filed a petition in May 2018 and an interim application. The Supreme Court in November 2019 ordered the constitution of a tribunal and Tamil Nadu has been urging the Centre on this,” the minister said. About 870 hectares of agricultural land in Krishnagiri taluk alone would be affected by the dam, he added.
Duraimurugan said a solution would be found through the tribunal. “The state government will take appropriate measures to safeguard the interests of farmers, people, and the rights of Tamil Nadu,” the minister said.
Farmers in Krishnagiri district said fertile land in five districts would turn barren and expressed fears of Karnataka releasing only the surplus from the dam as the structure didn’t have shutters. K P Periyasamy, 55, of Kuppachiparai village in Krishnagiri district, said villagers of Kuddapalli and Beemandapalli villages were totally dependent on the Pennaiyar river for drinking and irrigation needs. “Bore well too has dried up in the past few years due to lack of rain,” he said.
In a statement, PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss said the river was covered by the inter-state agreements of Madras-Mysore governments in 1892 and Karnataka would have to get approval from the lower riparian state. “The unilateral act of Karnataka amounts to defying the tribunal,” Anbumani said. The Centre had set up a committee which held talks twice last year before reporting to the Centre in July to set up the tribunal.
MDMK leader Vaiko said the BJP government in the Centre had not taken any decision on the tribunal and betrayed Tamil Nadu. “TN government should immediately act and establish our rights,” Vaiko said. CPI secretary R Mutharasan said the government should act legally against Karnataka since it acted against court orders and principles of water sharing.