Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday has asked Union Minister of Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar to instruct the Expert Appraisal Committee for River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects to withdraw the subject of a grant of fresh terms of reference (TOR) to Karnataka for Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir and Drinking Water Project.
In a letter, the Chief Minister urged the Ministry to direct the committee to desist from entertaining the proposal of Karnataka in future and reject the present proposal.
“I have, on June 24, written to the Prime Minister seeking his personal intervention to deny permission to the proposal of Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Niyamita for grant of Terms of Reference to obtain Environmental Clearance for Mekedatu project,” he said.
However, despite that, the Expert Appraisal Committee for River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects, functioning under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has included the proposal of Karnataka for grant of fresh Terms of Reference to Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir and Drinking Water Project at its meeting scheduled to be held on July 19.