Chennai: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Thursday has urged chief minister C Joseph Vijay to lead an all-party delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get the Mekedatu project shelved.Speaking at a public meeting in Chennai, organised to mark PMK’s 38th year of foundation, Anbumani questioned Karnataka’s justification for a 70tmc capacity reservoir at Mekedatu on the pretext of supplying drinking water to Bengaluru, when the city’s drinking water requirement was only five tmc.“If Mekedatu dam comes up, Tamil Nadu will be in serious trouble. The water resources minister should take all of us to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister. The project will also destroy 12,000 acres of forest,” Anbumani said.He also dismissed speculation of a political tie up with TVK in the wake of his recent meeting with water resources minister N Anand. He said the meeting was to discuss Tamil Nadu’s water management.“Some say we discussed a political alliance or cabinet berths. But I met the minister only to discuss water resources. We discussed about Cauvery-Gundar river linking project, Hogenakkal and Mettur projects, ” Anbumani said.Anbumani said Karnataka’s bid to build the dam had the backing of all political parties in the neighbouring state and called on people of TN, especially the youth, to raise their voice against the project. He also urged the govt to waive cooperative bank loans of farmers, citing the state’s worsening water crisis.Earlier, Anbumani shared the stage with sports minister Aadhav Arjuna at a sports event in Chennai. Speaking at the function, Anbumani praised Aadhav Arjuna for performing “efficiently” as the sports minister and said he could see a visible change after Aadhav took charge as sports minister. “Aadhav is doing a wonderful job and is turning around the sports scenario in TN,” Anbumani said.Anbumani also celebrated the 38th year of the foundation of PMK by providing sweets and biryani for his party cadres and supporters in Chennai.
