Tamil Nadu Challenges Proposed Meghadathu Dam in Court Over Water and Environmental Concerns
The Tamil Nadu government has lodged a petition with the National Green Tribunal seeking to stop the Meghadathu dam project being pursued by the Karnataka government. Officials argue that the dam would divert a large share of Cauvery water away from the delta region, jeopardising the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Tamil Nadu farmers who depend on the river for irrigation. The filing also claims the project would lead to the felling of extensive forest cover, affecting wildlife and endangered species, and that Karnataka has not obtained the required environmental clearances. Tamil Nadu’s chief minister and a team of senior lawyers reviewed legal precedents, Supreme Court and Cauvery Water Tribunal rulings, and recommended urgent legal action to protect the state’s water rights and ecological balance.