Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting the federal government stop Karnataka’s Mekedatu reservoir project [1, 2].
The dispute over the Cauvery River is a long-standing flashpoint between the two states. Tamil Nadu argues that the reservoir would allow Karnataka to divert water, threatening the agricultural stability of the downstream state.
Vijay sent the letter in early May 2024, shortly after his swearing-in as chief minister on May 10, 2024 [3, 1]. In the correspondence, Vijay said that the project violates the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award and a 2018 Supreme Court judgment regarding water sharing [1, 2, 4].
"I have written to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention to stop the Mekedatu project as it violates the Cauvery award and the Supreme Court’s 2018 judgment," Vijay said [5].
The Mekedatu project is a proposed balancing reservoir in Karnataka designed to store water from the Cauvery River. Tamil Nadu contends that such a structure would impede the flow of water required to meet the legal quotas established by the tribunal and the courts [1, 2].
"The Mekedatu reservoir threatens Tamil Nadu’s water share and must be halted immediately," Vijay said [6].
The request for intervention marks one of the first major policy actions of Vijay's administration. By appealing directly to the Prime Minister, the Tamil Nadu government is seeking a federal mandate to prevent the project from proceeding, a move that could either resolve the tension or further escalate the rivalry between the two regional governments [1, 2].
“The Mekedatu reservoir threatens Tamil Nadu’s water share and must be halted immediately.”
The intervention by Chief Minister Vijay signals that the Cauvery water dispute remains a primary political priority for the new Tamil Nadu administration. By anchoring his request in the 2018 Supreme Court ruling, Vijay is attempting to frame the issue as a matter of legal compliance rather than a mere political disagreement, placing the burden of enforcement on the central government in New Delhi.
