At meet with Shah, Team Goa says withdraw K’taka DPR nod

Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday night said that Union home minister Amit Shah has assured the Goa delegation that he would “positively look” into the Mhadei water diversion issue.
“We met home minister Amit Shah ji and kept before him our two demands — formation of Mhadei Water Management Authority and withdrawal of approval to DPR given to Karnataka. We explained to him the adverse impact on drinking water and ecology in Goa due to the Mhadei water diversion,” Sawant, who led the 10-member Goa delegation, said.
On the meeting, Sawant said, “He (Shah) has said he will positively look into it and we have faith that he will take immediate action”
The home minister met the delegation at around 9pm, and over the next 20 minutes, Sawant explained the ecological disaster Goa would face if the diversion was allowed to take place.
The delegation submitted a memorandum demanding withdrawal of the approval given by the Central Water Commission to Karnataka’s revised detailed project report (DPR) for diversion of water from the tributaries of the Mhadei.
The home minister was told that the whole of North Goa would face a serious raw water shortage, and water treatment plants would find it difficult to function if water from the Mhadei is diverted into Karnataka’s Malaprabha basin.
“The CM told the home minister precisely what is Goa’s requirement and the home minister has assured to act immediately,” said a senior member of the state delegation after the meeting.
Shah was also informed how the ecology of four wildlife sanctuaries in Goa, including the state’s lone bird sanctuary in Chorao and its only national park in Mollem, would begin to change once the diversion takes place.
Shah was also briefed about Karnataka’s violations of constructing canals to divert water from the Kalasa, even though the matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
The Goa delegation also met Union water resources minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and apprised him of Goa’s concerns.
The delegation also included Goa’s two MPs, Union minister Shripad Naik and Vinay Tendulkar, speaker Ramesh Tawadkar, state PWD minister Nilesh Cabral, WRD minister Subhash Shirodkar, health minister Vishwajit Rane, and transport minister Mauvin Godinho. Bicholim MLA Chandrakant Shetye represented the independents.
Before leaving for the meeting, Sawant said that Shah is being approached by the team from Goa as he, as home minister, oversees any disputes between states. Sawant also said that no opposition party member was part of the Goa delegation as they did not even bother to attend the all-party meeting called earlier in the state to discuss the Mhadei issue.
Sawant left for Goa immediately after meeting Shah and Shekhawat on Wednesday night, while many of the others chose to stay behind.