CHENNAI | May 26, 2026 – Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay has strongly urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and reject Karnataka’s Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the controversial Mekedatu reservoir project on the Cauvery river.
In a formal letter to the Prime Minister on Tuesday, Chief Minister Vijay expressed deep concern over the Central government entertaining Karnataka’s proposal despite staunch opposition from Tamil Nadu. He stated that the proposed 67.16 TMC capacity reservoir near the Tamil Nadu border directly violates the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) final award and the Supreme Court’s definitive 2018 judgment.
Vijay highlighted that recent assertions by Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar have triggered widespread anxiety among Tamil Nadu farmers who rely heavily on the Cauvery for their livelihoods and irrigation. The Chief Minister argued that the Cauvery basin is already classified as a deficit basin, meaning no additional storage structures or extra water utilization are legally permitted. He cautioned that the reservoir is strategically designed to block and regulate uncontrolled catchment flows that are rightfully designated for Tamil Nadu.
Invoking the Supreme Court’s mandate that upper riparian states must not disrupt scheduled water deliveries to lower riparian states, Vijay called on the Prime Minister to direct the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Central Water Commission (CWC) to dismiss the DPR entirely. He also requested explicit directives to restrain Karnataka from initiating any unauthorized construction in the Cauvery basin without the absolute concurrence of co-basin states.
