00:00And we have big news coming in from Tamil Nadu as Chief Minister Vijay has written to Prime Minister Modi
00:07over Mekedatu's dam.
00:09Now Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has flagged central teams in Mekedatu's site visit and he has sought a freeze on
00:16Mekedatu related clearances,
00:19especially pertaining to a reservoir that has been planned by Karnataka.
00:24Now Vijay is raising certain issues that the Tamil Nadu farmers are feeling.
00:29The concerns over the Mekedatu project and certain plans that Karnataka government may have.
00:35Now Vijay has urged the centre to defer Mekedatu project action, which basically is about Karnataka government planning a reservoir.
00:45And during this entire process where we've seen a little bit of deficit as far as water is concerned, it
00:53is concerning for the Tamil Nadu farmers.
00:55Joining us now is India Today's Pramod.
00:59Pramod, do tell us what exactly are the contents of the letter and the concerns of the farmers that the
01:06Chief Minister is raising in front of the Prime Minister.
01:09Well, Anjali, one important aspect is that Kavari water is the life basis for the kind of like agricultural crops
01:15being, you know, rice and paddy, especially in the state of Tamil Nadu.
01:18Six delta districts are there. It's actually produced paddy that is considered by entire state.
01:23And that's the reason this particular issue is like very, very sensitive.
01:26And this particular, you know, dam called, in a place called Negatatu, Tamil Nadu will completely oppose it.
01:32And that's why it's been the stance of AIDMK, DMK and now TVK government action.
01:36Amidst all this, the Chief Minister claims that there are reports of, you know, central government officials apparently going ahead
01:42and visiting the site.
01:42And this is where the Chief Minister has written to the Prime Minister urging that, you know, the Minister, the
01:48Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Ministry of Environment, Forest, Climate Change may be asked to refrain from undertaking any
01:54site inspections, technical evaluations or granting any statutory.
01:57And then, just like you mentioned, he has also asked to defer any further administrative or technical corrections arising from
02:04the recent site inspection if undertaken by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and to advise the government of Karnataka not
02:09to proceed with the project without the consent of the co-patient states.
02:19And that is why, even though the Karnataka Siyanma, D.K. Kokushyukma says that water will be actually, you know,
02:28stored and used for Bengaluru, a certain number of TNC and the rest would be given to Tamil Nadu, nothing
02:34is asked for legal parameters.
02:36And that is why, the Chief Minister, we can clearly say he does not trust any kind of word given
02:41by any kind of politician and he has directly written to the Prime Minister over here, Anjali.
02:45Thank you, Pramod, for those details.
