Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay | Photo Credit: Prescia Gladwin _12185@Chennai

The construction of a new reservoir by Karnataka across the Cauvery river amounts to a “clear violation” of the Supreme Court judgement and should be stopped, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a letter on Tuesday.

He requested the PM to instruct the concerned officers in the Ministry of Jal Shakti and in the Central Water Commission (CWC) to reject the Detailed Project Report of the Mekedatu project proposal, as it is in contravention to Supreme Court’s judgement.

He also urged the Prime Minister to advise the Karnataka government not to take up any new project without getting the concurrence of co-basin States and not to violate the Judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in totality.

The communication comes in the backdrop of Karnataka, in violation of Judgment of the Supreme Court and the Final Award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, has announced the “Bhoomi Puja” of the Mekedatu reservoir on the river Cauvery.

This comes at a time when Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar on Tuesday said that they are going ahead in filing the Detailed Project Report on Mekedatu dam construction and urged the Centre to clear it.

This sets off the long-standing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the Cauvery river.

The public utterances of the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka has caused a lot of concern among the lakhs of farmers of Tamil Nadu, who depend on the Cauvery river for their livelihood, the CM said in his letter to the PM. A solution to the sensitive Cauvery water dispute was obtained after a long legal battle, lasting about three decades, and the Judgment dated February 16, 2018 is under implementation, the letter added.

Tamil Nadu’s view is that by proposing a new Mekedatu Project with a storage capacity of 67.16 TMC just upstream of Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, the State of Karnataka is attempting to prevent the flows generated in the uncontrolled catchment, it said.

The Supreme Court on February 16, 2018, has held that Karnataka shall not take any action so as to affect the scheduled deliveries of water to the lower riparian State (Tamil Nadu). Hence, the act of proposing to construct a new reservoir by Karnataka would amount to clear violation of the said judgment, he said.

In this scenario, it is surprising that the MoJS and the CWC, which are mandated to implement the Judgment dated February 16, 2018 in letter and spirit, are entertaining Karnataka’s proposal of Mekedatu Project, without considering the plea of Tamil Nadu government, the appeal to the PM said.

Published on May 26, 2026