After Supreme Court’s dismissal of Tamil Nadu’s review petition, D.K. Shivakumar puts onus of clearing Mekedatu project on Centre

Close on the heels of the Supreme Court dismissing Tamil Nadu’s review petition against Karnataka’s proposed Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir and Drinking Water Project, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar put the onus of providing clearance to the project on the Centre.

“Now it is for the Union government to take the final decision regarding the Mekedatu project. We are in the process of submitting the revised Detailed Project Report,” Mr. Shivakumar told the press in New Delhi on Tuesday (May 26).

The apex court refused to review its November 2025 judgement, which had earlier dismissed Tamil Nadu’s objections to the Mekedatu project as “premature”.

Mr. Shivakumar, who also holds Water Resources portfolio, hailed the court’s judgement. “The Supreme Court’s three-member Bench has dismissed the review petition filed by Tamil Nadu regarding the Mekedatu project. This is good news for Karnataka. On behalf of the people of Karnataka, we express our gratitude to the Supreme Court,” he said.

“The Supreme Court had already given us clear instructions in its earlier order, imposing a condition that Tamil Nadu’s share of 177 tmcft of water must be released in a year,” he said.

Karnataka has been arguing that the proposed Mekedatu balancing reservoir project will not harm the interests of Tamil Nadu and in fact, it would help properly regulate the water flow to Tamil Nadu as per the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal’s orders.

Though Karnataka is required to release 177 tmcft of water a year to Tamil Nadu, the data at the Biligundlu measuring gauge has shown that Karnataka has ended up releasing more than double this quantum for several years as it does not have any water storage facility in the downstream beyond Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS). Hence, the State has been planning to build the Mekedatu balancing reservoir in Kanakapura taluk of Bengaluru South.