Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has called an all-party meeting on July 12 to discuss the Mekedatu issue.
Representatives of all legislature parties have been invited to the meeting that will start at 10.30 a.m. at Namakkal Kavignar Maligai at the State Secretariat. The meeting will discuss Karnataka’s proposal to construct a dam that has been vehemently opposed by the Tamil Nadu government, an official release said.
The State government said Tamil Nadu had been taking legal steps to stop Karnataka from building a dam across the Cauvery at Mekedatu.
At a recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Stalin had insisted that the rights and interests of Tamil Nadu farmers be protected.
Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan, too, recently met the Union Minister for Water Resources, urging for measures, the government said.
In reply to his Karnataka counterpart B.S. Yediyurappa’s letter that urged Tamil Nadu not to object to the proposal, Mr. Stalin said the dam would affect the welfare of Tamil Nadu farmers and would also go against the Supreme Court’s order in the Cauvery dispute.
Farmers upset
The Tamizhaga Cauvery Vivasayigal Sangam expressed disappointment over farmers’ representatives not being invited to the all-party meeting.
While welcoming the government’s move to build strong opposition to Karnataka’s intention to build the dam, the organisation’s general secretary, P.R. Pandian, said that when the Cauvery issue reached its peak in 2018, the then government had taken farmers, too, into confidence and invited representatives to an all-party meeting.
He urged the government to revise its stance and invite farmers to the meeting. Mr. Pandian said collective efforts to thwart the dam project and the Central government’s intention to incapacitate the CWMA were the need of the hour.
