Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite statutory clearances for the Mekedatu project, withdraw the proposed Western Ghats ecological restrictions based on the Kasturirangan report, and support the state’s plan to upgrade 1,000 government schools.
Shivakumar raised the demands during Modi’s visit to Karnataka on Friday while addressing the inauguration of the Centre of Space and Modern Optical Sciences, or CoSMOS, in Mysuru. He said cooperation between the Union and state governments was necessary to address the state’s major development challenges.
On Mekedatu, Shivakumar said the Supreme Court had already delivered its verdict on the proposed balancing reservoir and asked the Centre to grant the remaining statutory clearances so that the drinking-water project could move forward. The project has long been presented by Karnataka as an important source of water for the state, although its implementation requires clearances from the relevant authorities.
The chief minister also asked the Centre to withdraw the Kasturirangan report recommendations relating to ecologically sensitive areas in the Western Ghats. He said the Karnataka legislature had unanimously rejected the recommendations after consultations with people living in the affected regions. Shivakumar argued that local concerns and livelihoods should be considered in decisions concerning the region.
Public education was the third major issue raised during the event. Karnataka plans to upgrade 1,000 government schools into Karnataka Public Schools, and Shivakumar asked the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs to issue advisories encouraging companies to align their corporate social responsibility funding with the state’s CSR guidelines.
He linked the school-upgrade plan to wider concerns over access to education and employment. According to the figures cited by him, migration for education and employment increased from 31% in 2002 to 47% in 2026. He said the proportion could reach 70% over the next two decades if the trend continued.
Shivakumar also sought central support for scientific infrastructure outside Bengaluru. He asked the Department of Science and Technology to examine setting up a facility similar to CoSMOS in North Karnataka, arguing that access to scientific opportunities should not depend on whether a student is born in Bengaluru or a remote village. He said Karnataka had contributed significantly to India’s space programme and referred to missions including Aryabhata, Chandrayaan, Aditya-L1 and Gaganyaan.
The chief minister said a mobile digital planetarium project had reached more than 19.2 lakh students and teachers across Karnataka. He described CoSMOS as a major addition for Mysuru and said scientific infrastructure should be made more widely accessible across the state.
The meeting also included requests related to drought relief and agriculture. Shivakumar said Karnataka had recorded its second-lowest rainfall in 70 years and estimated the resulting losses at Rs 62,482 crore. The state has sought Rs 22,400.6 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund and asked the Centre to expedite the release of assistance.
He further urged the Union government to address the concerns of sugarcane farmers, saying the minimum support price of sugar had remained unchanged at Rs 31 per kg since 2019. The next steps on the Mekedatu clearances, drought assistance and the proposed school-upgrade collaboration will depend on responses from the concerned Union ministries and authorities.
