Bengaluru: Karnataka Irrigation Minister and Deputy Chief Minister DK Sivakumar has appealed to the neighboring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to approach the people of Meketatu Dam as brothers and sisters.
Deputy Chief Minister TK Sivakumar, who has taken over as the Karnataka Irrigation Minister, has ordered the authorities to speed up the construction of the Meketatu dam across the Cauvery river. While the Supreme Court has banned the work related to Mekedhatu Dam, the Karnataka Minister’s opinion against it has caused huge protests in Tamil Nadu.
It is noteworthy that Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan said that “Karnataka State Water Resources Minister Sivakumar is doing such a thing of insulting the neighboring state within a few days of taking oath. I think the authorities would not have told him the full details about Meghadatu.” Similarly, various parties including Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Opposition Leader Edappadi Palaniswami and BAMA founder Ramadoss have also condemned.
In this case, Karnataka Minister DK Shivakumar’s tweets today show that he is firm on the dam issue. In those tweets, he said, “More than Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated for the Meghedatu Dam, but no expenditure has been spent on the project so far. The allocation for the dam should be spent on that.
No hatred or anger towards Tamil Nadu brothers. They are like our brothers and sisters. Tamils living in Karnataka and Kannadas living in Tamil Nadu drink Cauvery water. We have gone to the courts in this matter. We have to agree on the issue of Mekedhatu. Meketatu Dam will benefit both our states. Cauvery provides irrigation water to farmers and drinking water to common people.
I am making a request to Tamil Nadu Govt. We are both kind hearted. Let the people of our two states live in brotherhood. Let’s help each other and move forward.”
