Niti Aayog meet: Spoke on Mahadayi, mining, says Goa CM

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawanton Saturday said he urged the Centre to protect the state'sinterests in the Mahadayi River issue and resume miningoperations during the sixth governing council meeting of theNiti Aayog.

Sawant said his presentation at the meet, which wasaddressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighted thedanger of Goa having a shortage of drinking water ifneighbouring Karnataka is allowed to divert Mahadayi water.

''I pointed out that the petition on Mahadayi ispending before the Supreme Court. I told the PM diversion willnot only impact flora and fauna but will also create drinkingwater shortage in (Goa) in the future. We may not feel theshortage as of now,'' he said.

Sawant said he presented facts about the impact theclosure of mining operations has had on the state.

The CM said his government also demanded that it beallowed to ''encourage vertical mobility'' as ''67 per cent ofour area is under forest cover'' while there are also CoastalZone Management norms to contend with.

Stress was laid on the ''Swayampurna Goa'' initiative,which aims to revive rural economy and agriculture, as well.

Sawant thanked the PM for Rs 300 crore allotted to thestate in the Union Budget, Rs 960 crore for Goa ShipyardLimited (a defence PSU), Rs 24 crore for Goa Polar ResearchInstitute, Rs 20 crore for WRD ministry and Rs 83 crore forcooperative sector and Mormugao Port Trust (MPT).

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)