Vijay stated that the proposed Mekedatu project could not be evaluated merely as an engineering proposal and said its legal permissibility must first be examined in the context of the CWDT Award, the Supreme Court’s February 16, 2018 judgment and the rights of the lower riparian states. He also noted that the Detailed Project Report submitted by Karnataka in 2019 had been returned by the Central Water Commission for revision to ensure compliance with the Tribunal Award and applicable guidelines, which, he said, demonstrated that such compliance remained an indispensable precondition.
