The contentious Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir project, which aims to augment the Cauvery water supply to Bengaluru much to the opposition of Tamil Nadu, has not been granted clearance by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
Apart from voicing environmental concerns over the submergence of 52.5 sqkm of forest land, including core areas of the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) on River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects constituted by the MoEF has said the proposal can be reconsidered only after Tamil Nadu and Karnataka reach an “amicable solution.”
While the EAC meeting was conducted on July 19, the minutes were released recently. Karnataka had sought granting of Terms of Reference (ToR), which is the first stage of the environmental clearance process, for the ₹9,000-crore project. The project intends to divert 4.75 tmcft of drinking water towards the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region and for the generation of 400 MW of hydro-electric energy.
The Tamil Nadu government has sought scrapping of the project through multiple legal and political fora while Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Tuesday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant permission to build the balancing reservoir.