Dam across the Markandeya River .... Action should be taken against the Government of Karnataka ... Anbumani Rahmadas

Times of AthibAn Saturday, July 03, 2021 0

'The Government of Tamil Nadu should immediately bring the matter of the construction of a dam across the Markandeya River to the attention of the Central Government and urge it to take action against the Government of Karnataka. We should raise this issue in the arbitral tribunal and urge the court to order the removal of the dam, ”Anbumani Ramadhas demanded.

Anbumani Ramadhas, the youth leader of Bamaga, issued a statement today:

'It is shocking that the Government of Karnataka has built a huge new dam across the Markandeya River, a tributary of the Tenpennai River, which is the source of irrigation for 6 districts in Tamil Nadu. It is reprehensible that Karnataka has arbitrarily built a dam while the case related to the South Indian river issue is pending in the tribunal.

Just as the Government of Karnataka trampled on all the rules, agreements and virtues in the Cauvery water issue, so did it in building a new dam across the Markandeya River, a tributary of the Tenpennayar.

The state government has started construction of a new 50 meter high and 430 meter long dam across the Markandeya River at Yarkol village in Bangarapet, Karnataka in 2012. At the same time, construction work was halted as a result of fierce protests by the Proletarian People's Party and peasant organizations. So the peasants sighed with relief.

On the other hand, the Tamil Nadu government has filed a case in the Supreme Court seeking an injunction restraining the construction of a dam on the Markandeya River and ordering the Karnataka government not to implement any irrigation project across the Pennayar without the approval of the Tamil Nadu government. The apex court dismissed the case on November 14, 2019, directing the federal government to approach it to set up a tribunal to resolve the South Indian issue.

Accordingly, the Government of Tamil Nadu applied to the Central Government. Had the federal government set up a tribunal to do so, it could have prevented the construction of a dam on the Markandeya River. But the federal government unnecessarily delayed setting up the tribunal. When the Tamil Nadu government applied to the Central Government in November 2019 to set up a tribunal, the Karnataka government had completed 70% of the work on the Markandeya river dam.

If the tribunal had been set up immediately, it could have used its jurisdiction to ban the construction of the dam. But instead of setting up a tribunal, it set up a negotiating committee. The Central Committee, which held two rounds of talks between the two states on February 24 and July 7, reported to the Union Government on July 31 last year to set up an arbitral tribunal to resolve the issue as no agreement was reached in those talks.

The dam could have been blocked even if an arbitral tribunal had been set up at the time. However, with no arbitration panel set up till the end of last year, Karnataka has completed the construction of the dam using that and the corona environment. The Tenpennayaru originates in Karnataka but flows only a short distance in the state.

It starts in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu and flows through various districts and merges with the Bay of Bengal in Cuddalore district. In Tamil Nadu, the Markandeya River is the source of water for the South. Now a dam has been built on that river. It can hold water up to a height of 165 feet. Experts say that water can stagnate up to 2 TMC, although it is said that it can hold only half a TMC.

Only when the 165 feet high dam fills up will the water from the Markandeya river reach Tamil Nadu and mix with the Tenpennayar. In Tamil Nadu, several lakh acres of land will be affected in the five districts of Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Thirunamalai, Villupuram and Cuddalore, which depend on the Tenpennai River for irrigation as it is not possible now. There will be a shortage of drinking water in these districts. Thus millions of people will lose their livelihood.

These six come under an agreement made between Chennai and Mysore provinces in 1892. According to the agreement, whatever is done in the primary irrigated areas, Karnataka has to get the approval of the irrigated state of Tamil Nadu. But Karnataka's arbitrary construction of the dam without respecting it is an act of contempt of the arbitral tribunal.

This will affect the good relations between the two states. The Government of Tamil Nadu should immediately bring this matter to the attention of the Central Government and urge the Government of Karnataka to take action. The issue should also be raised in the arbitral tribunal and an order should be issued to remove the dam, which was built illegally and without permission.

Thus said Anbumani.