Panaji: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday reiterated that his government will not compromise on the Mhadei water dispute.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function organised by the Economic Development Corporation, Sawant said the state has been on the right track vis-à-vis the water-sharing dispute with Karnataka.
The government has filed a contempt petition before the Supreme Court against Karnataka for illegally diverting water from the Mhadei basin to the Malaprabha through the Kalasa-Banduri canal, although the matter has been sub judice in the apex court.
“We have already filed the contempt petition against Karnataka for violating the apex court order. We have taken a stand on the Mhadei issue, and we are steadfast on that. There will be no compromise on the Mhadei matter. We will follow the matter in the Supreme Court,” he said.
In July 2019, the state government filed a special leave petition filed in the SC, challenging the Mhadei (Mahadayi) Water Disputes Tribunal’s award passed on August 14, 2018.
The award has allowed Karnataka to divert 13.42 tmc feet of water from the river basin.
Spelling out commitment of the Bharatiya Janata Party to save the Mhadei river flowing into Goa, state BJP president Sadanand Tanawde on Wednesday said that although Sawant has already discussed the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the legal move is the only way to get justice to Goa on the Mhadei dispute.
Tanawde alleged that the Congress is responsible for creating confusion in the Mhadei tangle, while the BJP is serious over the issue and consistently opposing Karnataka’s efforts to divert the Mhadei water.
“The Congress is just fooling the people,” he alleged, pointing out that leaders of the Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, who are speaking against the BJP on the Mhadei dispute, had completely different view when they were part of the Manohar Parrikar-led BJP government.
Addressing a press conference at the city BJP headquarters, Tanawde recalled that the Manohar Parrikar government in Goa had filed a complaint in 2002 with the Union ministry of water resources against the Karnataka government for its plans to divert the Mhadei water.
“However, in 2006, the then Congress government in the state deleted two key clauses from a memorandum seeking formation of the tribunal under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act-1956,” he maintained.
The state BJP president also said the BJP government in the state has filed two contempt petitions before the Supreme Court against the Karnataka government.
State BJP leader Narendra Sawaikar, who was also present on the occasion, shrugged off the allegation that the Modi government is in favour of the Karnataka government as that state has more MPs as compared to Goa. He reckoned that this cannot become a point of argument in any court.
