Supreme Court calls Tamil Nadu plea against Mekedatu project ‘premature’

A bench of Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai and justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria noted that the draft pre-feasibility report (DPR) for the dam project was currently under consideration of the Central Water Commission (CWC), which is subject to the scrutiny and approval of two expert bodies, the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) and the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).

“At this stage, what is being done by the order passed by the CWC is only the preparation of the DPR, that too after taking into consideration the objections of the State of Tamil Nadu and the experts of the CWMA and CWRC,” said the bench. “The CWC has further directed that prior approval of these authorities would be a prerequisite for considering the DPR. In that view of the matter, we find the present application to be premature.”

Reiterating its consistent stance of not intervening in matters that require technical expertise, the bench recalled its August 25, 2023, order in which it had declined to interfere in the Cauvery water release issue, leaving the assessment of rainfall and storage conditions to the CWMA.