Amid Cauvery row, Karnataka Deputy CM appeals to TN to cooperate on Mekedatu project
Bengaluru, Jul 16: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday made a passionate appeal to the Tamil Nadu government to cooperate with the implementation of the Mekedatu project across river Cauvery which, he said, would be more beneficial to the neighbouring State.
He also expressed hope about "problems in releasing water to Tamil Nadu to get sorted out, if god permits" and the rains continue in the Cauvery catchment areas of Karnataka.
"One thing I would like to appeal to Tamil Nadu, for your interest and our interest. More than our interest it is your interest, this Mekedatu reservoir, you just permit us, whatever storage we will do, we will give you that water, we can't take back that water," Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said: "It is my humble appeal on behalf of the people of Karnataka, where all sections -- Tamilians, Kannadigas, Andhraites and people from North India -- are there. It is for Bengaluru for drinking water and it is for you (Tamil Nadu). Please permit us for Makedatu, don't object, we will cooperate in whatever way we can."
ALSO READ: 1.5 tmcft of Cauvery water flowing to Tamil Nadu daily, says DK Shivakumar
Mekedatu is a multi-purpose (drinking water and power) project proposed by Karnataka, which involves building a balancing reservoir near Kanakapura in Ramanagara district.
Tamil Nadu has been opposing the project, raising apprehensions that the state would be affected if the project takes shape.
The project, once completed, is aimed at ensuring drinking water to Bengaluru and neighbouring areas (4.75 tmcft); it also can generate 400 MW power, and the estimated cost of the project is Rs 9,000 crore (2019 rates), according to Karnataka officials.
A separate Project Division and two Sub-Divisions have already been set up to implement the ambitious 'Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir and drinking water project of Cauvery river valley', Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said, presenting the state budget in February.
"A survey to identify land that will be submerged under this project and the counting process of trees have already been initiated," he had also said, adding, "action will be taken on priority to commence the work early after obtaining remaining necessary clearances from the competent authorities."
Responding to a question regarding Tamil Nadu holding an all party meeting about getting Cauvery water for the state from Karnataka, Shivakumar said: "Tamil Nadu has every right to meet as we met, we don't object to their meeting, I don't want to comment on that."
He said: "At the same time from yesterday I'm getting good inflow, more than 50,000 cusecs inflow in Cauvery region, whatever is there we are allowing the water to go out of Harangi (dam), I think more than 20,000 cusecs was going out from Harangi and other places. If gods permit us, all our problems will be sorted out."
Asked if his government will honour the directive of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) to release one tmcft of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu if rains continue at this rate, Shivakumar said: "of course, of course, we have to (release), we will. Whatever the inflow is coming, we are not holding it, we are leaving it to Mettur (in Tamil Nadu)."
Siddaramaiah had after an all party meeting on Sunday said the government was ready to release 8,000 cusecs of water from the Cauvery river every day to Tamil Nadu instead of one tmcft (11,500 cusecs).
The storage in the four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin stood at 63 per cent of the total capacity and, in this situation, the state was not in a position to release one tmcft water every day, the Chief Minister had said.
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Bank account in Ramgarh tracked for fraudulent fund transactions across 24 states, 4 arrested
Ramgarh (Jharkhand) (PTI): Jharkhand police on Thursday said it has unearthed a network of interstate cyber frauds and arrested four miscreants for fraudulent transactions through a bank account in Ramgarh district after complaints of 274 suspected transactions in 24 states.
The states where complaints for fraudulent transactions were registered included Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
The action followed inputs received through 'Samanvaya portal', a centralised, web-based platform launched by the Union Home Ministry to curb cybercrime.
"We arrested four cyber miscreants after a current account with Kuju (Ramgarh) branch of the State Bank of India was found to have registered suspected financial transactions in 24 states with the help of the Pratibimba portal of the Home Ministry through the Samanvaya portal," Ramgarh Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Lunayat said.
During the probe, police found that the account was opened under the MSME Udyam Registration scheme in the name of Shree Ganesh Enterprises, he said.
The account had been linked to as many as 274 complaints from different states related to cyber fraud and illegal fund transfers.
The registered proprietors of the enterprise were identified as Rahul Gupta (37), Ravi Kumar Verma (34), and Ajay Sharma (33), all residents of Ramgarh district, a statement from the Ramgarh police said.
During interrogation, Rahul Gupta and Ravi Kumar Verma revealed that they had opened multiple current accounts at the behest of Ritesh Agrawal alias Munna (40) and Sonu Kumar Jha (34).
They admitted receiving Rs 1.2 lakh in exchange for facilitating the opening of these accounts.
"The accused further confessed to sharing OTPs, activating mobile banking services, and handing over control of the accounts to the main operators through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. These accounts were then allegedly used to route fraudulent transactions.
Police said mobile data analysis of the accused led to the recovery of crucial digital evidence, including details of SIM cards, bank accounts, passbooks, ATM cards, QR code scanners, Aadhaar cards, and PAN cards shared through messaging platforms.
A total of four accused have been arrested so far and sent to judicial custody.
A case has been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Further investigation is underway, the police said.
