As Bengaluru’s population grows and it looks frantically around for more sources of water to meet the needs of the people, an old solution has been revived for its constant troubles over water supply — build a hydro power station at Mekadatu.
The idea is to to store 50 to 60 tmc of Cauvery water which flows to Tamil Nadu in the natural course, over and above the 192 tmc it is supposed to receive from the river and divert 15 tmc of it to Bengaluru.
Damming Cauvery at Mekadatu has received the thumbs up in the interim report of the expert committee set up by the Karnataka government to assess the long term water supply requirements of Bengaluru.
Arguing that Karnataka has been releasing more water than agreed upon every year to Tamil Nadu for 13 of the last 20 years, the committee suggests the government should “consider construction of a reservoir near Mekedatu or any other suitable place for a hydro power project or for storage only....” and hold back around 60 tmc of the surplus water that flows in the natural course to the neighbouring state for its own use and solve Bengaluru’s drinking water problem in the process.
But it cautions that the Tamil Nadu government is bound to object to a reservoir at Mekedatu as it has been getting the benefit of extra flows from Karnataka for years and suggests it must be consulted on the project.
While the Cauvery tribunal is silent on sharing of surplus water, the committee is counting on the fact that the National Water Policy treats projects for drinking water on priority.“We are hoping Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will clear a power plant at Mekadatu as they can share the costs and also the benefits in terms of power generation” an official said.