Bengaluru has seen one of many worst droughts resulting in ingesting water and groundwater scarcity in 100 years. (PTI)
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, whereas campaigning for the Bengaluru Lok Sabha seat, has been stressing on the significance of the challenge for Bengaluru’s sustainability and has appealed to folks to vote for the Congress to make sure town doesn’t go thirsty once more
The Congress says it has an answer to quench the thirst of a parched Bengaluru — Vote for his or her candidates within the upcoming Lok Sabha election and they’ll deliver to fruition the Mekedatu ingesting water challenge.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, whereas campaigning for the Bengaluru Lok Sabha seat, has been stressing on the significance of the challenge for Bengaluru’s sustainability and has appealed to folks to vote for the Congress to make sure town doesn’t go thirsty once more.
“Soumya Reddy’s victory is crucial if the Mekedatu challenge is to be applied,” stated Siddaramaiah whereas campaigning for the Bengaluru South candidate who’s contesting in opposition to BJP’s Tejasvi Surya. The chief minister made comparable appeals when he campaigned for Mansoor Khan in Bengaluru Central LS seat, Rajeev Gowda within the Bengaluru North LS seat and DK Suresh within the Bengaluru rural seat. All these seats have been hit by the ingesting water scarcity and low groundwater ranges in peak summer season months.
Political analyst Sandeep Shastri believes the Congress has been making an attempt to give attention to native points to shift the highlight away from the central management.
“If the BJP has been taking a jibe on the Congress, asking them to settle their inner variations on Mekedatu, Siddaramaiah is making it clear that Karnataka has its personal coverage. They’re countering the BJP by saying the Congress and DMK could also be a part of the identical INDIA bloc however they are going to be caring for the curiosity of their very own state Karnataka,” Shastri stated.
Mekedatu is a proposed multi-purpose ingesting water challenge involving the development of a balancing reservoir on the confluence of the rivers Cauvery and Arkavathy, located about 100 km from Bengaluru on the Kanakapura taluka in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district. It goals to assist meet the rising demand for ingesting water in Bengaluru and surrounding areas. Estimated to value round Rs 9,000 crore, Karnataka believes it will possibly resolve the ingesting water scarcity in Bengaluru and Ramanagara districts.
Bengaluru has seen one of many worst droughts resulting in ingesting water and groundwater scarcity in 100 years which has additional prompted political events just like the Congress to take it up as a political subject on this Lok Sabha election marketing campaign. When accomplished, the challenge is anticipated to provide over 4 TMC of water to Bengaluru metropolis for ingesting functions.
It additionally goals at storing round 50 tmc ft of water by regulating water throughout floods and extra rainfall, whereas additionally harnessing 400 MW of renewable vitality by means of a hydroelectricity plant.
The problem was revived through the 2019 elections when Karnataka despatched an in depth plan to the Centre, saying they needed to construct the reservoir in Ramanagara, which is about 90 km from Bengaluru and near the border with Tamil Nadu. In 2022, the celebration launched a five-day padyatra overlaying 170 km and about 15 meeting constituencies with the slogan “Namma Neeru Namma Hakku” (Our water, Our proper). Nevertheless, the protest was reduce brief owing to rising numbers of Covid-19 circumstances within the state. The Congress had additionally spoken concerning the challenge within the 2023 meeting elections.
This 12 months, the Grand Outdated Celebration has raised the electoral pitch as soon as once more, saying the BJP did nothing to implement the Mekedatu challenge when it was in energy.
Mekedatu is a bone of competition between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, similar to the Cauvery water-sharing subject.
Tamil Nadu has been agency on its stand, stating that Karnataka has no proper to resolve on the Mekedatu challenge till a no-objection certificates is obtained from the opposite riparian states resembling themselves and Kerala. In response to Tamil Nadu, the paperwork submitted by the Karnataka authorities to the Central Water Fee (CEC) on why the Mekedatu challenge ought to be allowed have been ‘flawed’ and “unfair”.
In 2023, underneath the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP authorities, a timeline was set for the primary time for the development of the dam. Bommai, in an interview to News18, had spoken of allocating Rs 1,000 crore for Mekedatu and introduced that the work would start by the tip of 2023. The challenge is but to take off.
