FAULTY GROUND

The stretch of the Cauvery where Karnataka plans to build the Mekedatu dam lies alonga fault plane and in a geologically unstable region

- GV HEGDE AND KC SUBHASH CHANDRA

THE CENTURY-OLD dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the sharing of the Cauvery river waters is in the limelight once again—and this time because of the Mekedatu dam planned by the Karnataka government. In early January, Karnataka's main opposition party, the Congress, launched a 100-km padayatra demanding immediate implementation of the dam, in the pipeline for some three decades now, so that it augments drinking water supply to Bengaluru and surrounding areas by 4.75 thousand million cubic feet or TMC (1 TMC is 28.32 million cubic metres) and generates 400 megawatts of electricity. Soon, farmers in Tamil Nadu staged an anti-Mekedatu rally, with a clarion call to political parties of the state to oppose the dam tooth and nail, as it would reduce the share of Cauvery water for the downstream state.

The governments of both the states have adopted a wait-and-watch approach as the dispute is already with the Cauvery Water Tribunal as well as the National Green Tribunal. Several cases related to the dispute are also being heard by the Supreme Court.

Other than the opposition from Tamil Nadu, the project faces criticism because of its environmental impacts. The dam requires 5,252.40 hectares (ha) and will reportedly submerge 3,182.90 ha of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and 1,869.5 ha of reserve forest land, which form a crucial wildlife corridor, particularly for elephants. But there is another concern that has not received much attention.