Transport buses from Tamil Nadu have been blocked from entering Karnataka following protests called by Kannada organisations over the Mekedatu dam row.
Both states have been warring over the Mekedatu Dam project, a proposed ₹9,000-crore balancing reservoir project by Karnataka across the Cauvery River, aimed at supplying drinking water to Bengaluru and generating hydroelectric power. It faces strict opposition from Tamil Nadu over water rights.
The Kannada Jakrithi Vedige and Kannada Rakshana Vedige called for a road blockade on Sunday, leaving all Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation buses bound for Bengaluru to stop operations only up to Hosur.
The police department has announced that, on the instructions of the Dharmapuri Zone Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, buses will not operate until further notice to prevent any untoward incidents. Police have also been deployed there for security purposes.
However, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and private buses are entering Tamil Nadu as usual across the border. To reduce the inconvenience to Tamil Nadu passengers, the transport department has decided to ply more city buses.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay could visit Karnataka for talks on the dam issue. The Karnataka government's irrigation department officials have invited Tamil Nadu government's water resources department officials via email to discuss the issue. Though the Tamil Nadu government is yet to respond to the invitation, Agriculture Minister Vinoth said the Chief Minister Vijay will participate in the consultative meeting to be held in Karnataka on August 3. “We will never allow the Mekedatu Dam, which is being urged to release water due to Tamil Nadu in the Cauvery, that is our right,” he added.
DMK leader and former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin too appealed to the Chief Minister not to get caught in the trap of negotiating with the Karnataka government over Cauvery water.
“After several rounds of negotiations from the 1960s to 1990, no solution was found, and the Cauvery Arbitration Board was set up during the reign of social justice activist V.P. Singh, when Kalaignar was the Chief Minister, based on the Supreme Court order. Even after that, the Karnataka state government continued to commit injustice in providing water to Tamil Nadu. In the past, whenever the idea of holding talks with the Karnataka government on the Cauvery water issue was raised, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government firmly rejected it. This is because the Karnataka state government is all talk and no action. Such talks will only drag out the issue rather than asserting rights,” he put up a post on X.
