Tamil Nadu's objection to Mekedatu dam political: Siddaramaiah

BENGALURU: Terming Tamil Nadu's objection to the proposed Mekedatu dam project across Cauvery river as politically motivated, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today said the state government knows how to face the issue "legally and through other means".

"They have been creating this fuss from the beginning, we are giving 192 tmc ft as per the (Cauvery water disputes) tribunal order," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

He said "we are building the Mekedatu dam within our state, they will not have any problem from it, they are doing it for the sake of politics, we know how to face this both legally and through other means," he added.

Farmers' bodies have called for a bandh in Tamil Nadu today over the issue to which several state political parties have expressed their support.

Tamil Nadu Assembly had yesterday adopted a unanimous resolution urging Centre to rein in Karnataka from going ahead with its plan to build the dam across the inter-state river.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam recently had even written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to advise Karnataka not to build new dams across the Cauvery at Mekedatu, saying it would affect his state.

Siddaramaiah in his budget speech, presented on March 13, has 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.