New Delhi:  Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari will convene a meeting of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers on the implementation of the controversial Cauvery river project at Mekedatu for drinking water supply, said an official.

“Gadkari conveyed the decision on the proposed meeting to Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy when they met in New Delhi,” said an official of the Chief Minister’s Office in Bengaluru yesterday.

Karnataka has sought the Central Government’s approval to build a dam at Mekedatu on the river near Kanakapura in Ramanagaram district, about 100 km southwest of Bengaluru, for storing and supplying its water to the parched districts of Chickballapur and Kolar.

Objecting to the project fearing denial of its share of the river water, Tamil Nadu has also petitioned the Central Government and the Supreme Court not to allow Karnataka to build the balancing reservoir at the goat’s leap gorge.

“Kumaraswamy has sought Gadkari’s intervention to resolve the issue between the two riparian States and convince Tamil Nadu that the project would be beneficial to both the neighbouring States,” said the statement. The project is estimated to cost the State a whopping Rs.5,192 crore. Kumaraswamy also sought Gadkari’s intervention to make Goa allow Karnataka utilise the Mahadayi river water for drinking purpose in the four drought-prone districts in the State’s northwest region.

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