Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has renewed the state’s demand for final statutory approvals for the Mekedatu reservoir project, withdrawal of recommendations in the Kasturirangan report on the Western Ghats, and the use of corporate social responsibility funds to upgrade 1,000 government schools into Karnataka Public Schools.
Shivakumar raised the three demands before Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the inauguration of the Cosmos-Mysuru Planetarium and Bharat Van in Mysuru on Friday. He said cooperation between the Centre and Karnataka was essential to address the state’s development needs and challenges.
On the Mekedatu project, the Chief Minister said the Centre should issue the remaining approvals without delay because the project was important for drinking water. He also claimed that the Supreme Court had already delivered a judgment in Karnataka’s favour on the reservoir project and that the matter had been legally settled.
The Mekedatu proposal has been presented by Karnataka as a drinking-water and reservoir project. Its approval process has wider implications for water management in the Cauvery basin, although the source report did not provide details of the specific statutory clearances still pending or a fresh implementation timeline.
Shivakumar also called for the withdrawal of recommendations under the Kasturirangan report. He said the Karnataka legislature had unanimously passed a resolution opposing the recommendations and that public consultations had been held in the affected areas. According to the Chief Minister, the Centre should respect local concerns and ensure that livelihoods in the Western Ghats region were not adversely affected.
The third request involved the deployment of CSR funds to improve government schools. Shivakumar said parents were migrating to urban areas for education and employment, contributing to an imbalance between rural and urban regions. He cited figures showing that the share of migration for education and employment had increased from 31% in 2002 to 47% in 2026, and said it could reach 70% over the next two decades if the trend continued.
He asked the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs to issue advisory directions encouraging CSR projects in Karnataka to follow the state’s guidelines. The Chief Minister said this would help upgrade 1,000 government schools into Karnataka Public Schools and strengthen the public education system, potentially reducing the pressure on families to move to cities for schooling.
The remarks were made at an event that also highlighted Karnataka’s science and public-infrastructure initiatives. Shivakumar said the state was establishing science centres in Shivamogga, Raichur, Yadgir and Chikkamagaluru at a combined estimated cost of about Rs 59 crore. He said the Shivamogga centre was nearly complete, while construction was under way in Raichur.
He added that the Bengaluru Science City had been announced at a cost of Rs 230 crore in the 2024-25 Budget and was planned at Hoshahalli in Doddaballapura taluk. Planetariums are already operating in Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Gadag, while a planetarium at Chittapur is ready for inauguration, according to his statement.
The Chief Minister also said planetariums were under construction in Dharwad, Madikeri, Belagavi and Bagalkot. A mobile digital planetarium programme had reached more than 19.21 lakh students and teachers, while telescopes had been distributed to 833 KREIS schools and colleges. The next steps on the Mekedatu approvals, the Kasturirangan recommendations and the proposed CSR framework were not specified in the statement.
