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Feb 26: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday claimed that it prevented Karnataka from discussing the contentious Mekedatu reservoir issue at the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) meeting held in New Delhi.

Besides the representatives of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka at the fifth meeting of CWMA, presided over by Central Water Commission Chairman R K Jain, officials of Kerala and Puducherry also participated.

CWMA member and TN PWD Secretary K Manivasan told reporters after the meeting that the state government prevented Karnataka from discussing the dam issue by pointing out the pending petitions in the Supreme Court against the project filed by the E Palaniswami government.

"We have told participants of the meeting that Mekedatu reservoir will be against the interests of Tamil Nadu and its farmers. Our consistent stand is that it should not be built at any cost. Finally the issue was not discussed in the meeting," Manivasan said.

The Mekedatu reservoir is proposed to be constructed by Karnataka across Cauvery river near Mekedatu, about 110 km from Bengaluru, in Kanakapura taluk.

It was first proposed along with Shivanasamudra hydro power project at Shimsa in 2003 with an intention to use the water for a hydro power station and supply drinking water to Bengaluru city. It was designed to store 67 tmc feet of water.

While Tamil Nadu is claiming that the construction of a balancing reservoir will disturb Cauvery water flow to the state affecting irrigation, Karnataka says the project is basically designed to take care of the drinking water needs of Bengaluru after releasing water to Tamil Nadu as per the quantum specified by the Cauvery water disputes tribunal.

Bengaluru, Apr 4: Sixteen coronavirus cases have

been confirmed in Karnataka, taking the total number of the affected in the state to 144, the Health department said here on Saturday.

A 75-year old man, who is a resident of Bagalkote, who was confirmed positive on Friday and was being treated at a designated hospital in the district, expired last night.

"Till this evening, 144 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes four deaths and 11 discharges," the health department said in a bulletin.

Out of the 129 active cases, 126 patients (including 1 pregnant woman) are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable and three in Intensive Care Units (one on oxygen and two on Ventilators), it said.

Among the total of 144 cases detected and confirmed so far, eight are transit passengers of Kerala who landed in airports in Karnataka and are being treated in the state, it said.

Bengaluru, Mar 14: Amid coronavirus threat, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has ordered shutting down for a week of all places/activities where people gather in large number including swimming pools, shopping malls, schools, colleges, cinema halls etc, state Health Minister B Sriramulu said.

This comes after Yediyurappa chaired an emergency meeting with ministers and senior officials on Friday to discuss the situation.

Earlier, schools in the state had announced early summer vacation for their students this academic year as a precautionary measure. Other public places have been shut down in the state amid the Covid-19 scare.

The shut down in Karnataka comes after various other state governments ordered similar steps. Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir etc. are some of the states where governments have ordered shut down as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The central government has also taken several steps to contain the virus, including suspension of all visas to India till April 15. Till date, India has reported two deaths and 82 confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. The virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year has spread to more than 100 countries worldwide, infecting over 1,30,000 people.