Supreme Court refuses Tamil Nadu's plea against Karnataka's Mekedatu Reservoir Project proposal

The Supreme Court today refused to interfere with the Mekedatu Reservoir Project proposed by the Karnataka government in Cauvery river.

A CJI BR Gavai led bench refused to entertain the plea made by State of Tamil Nadu against the balancing reservoir at Mekedatu in Kanakapura Taluk of Bengaluru South District on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border.

Tamil Nadu has been opposing the project, claiming that the reservoir would take away its share of Cauvery water.

In February this year, Union govt had clarified that it has not accorded “any approval" for the construction of new dams across the Cauvery river. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Raj Bhushan Choudhary, minister of state for Jal Shakti, had said no permission was given for a new dam.

Responding to a question from S Kalyanasundaram, Tamil Nadu MP, on protecting rights of lower riparian states of the Cauvery, Choudhary said Cauvery Water Management Authority and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee were set up as per Supreme Court guidelines to assure compliance and im- plementation of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, including storage, apportionment, regulation, and control of Cauvery water.

The Supreme Court noted today that Tamil Nadu's challenge to the order passed by the Central Water Commission (CWC) for the preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Mekadatu dam was "premature", as the plan would be approved only after considering the objections of the State as well as the opinion of the expert bodies, Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) and the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).

"It to be noted that the CWC had further directed that the prior approval of the CWMA and CWRC would be a prerequisite for the consideration of the DPR. In that view of the matter, we find the present application to be premature", the bench has said.

Notably, in 2023 the Supreme Court had also refused to interfere with the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) order on directions to the State of Karnataka on releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Prashant Kumar Mishra had opined that the CWMA and CMRC consisted of various experts in the field of water resource management they had taken into consideration the shortfall of water this year before passing said order.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Tamil Nadu, told court today that the project would be detrimental for the farmers of Tamil Nadu who depend on the water of Cauvery for their livelihood. He further argued that the reservoir is being built at an altitude higher than where the State of Tamil Nadu is to get the water, which would adversely affect the release of water to the downstream State.

Case Title: State of Karnataka vs. State of Tamil Nadu

Hearing Date: November 13, 2025

Bench: CJI Gavai, Justices Chandran and Pancholi