Dammed from all sides, Goa’srivers may soon cry for water

Goa’s fight for water may have begun with the Mhadei, but it is just the beginning as the neighbouring states have embarked on a dam-building mission diverting water from the rivers that flow into the tiny state.
From Virdi in Maharashtra to Haltara in Karnataka to even the upper reaches of the Dudhsagar not to speak about diverting the Surla, Goa’s neighbours are slowly trying to tighten the taps that feed the state’s water needs.
While the official battle rages on between Goa and Karnataka over diversion of the Mhadei’s tributaries—the Kalasa and the Bhandura—triggering protests in Goa, both Karnataka and Maharashtra have unofficially and surreptitiously started work on diverting water from multiple rivers.
Some of the attempts have not gone unnoticed with Goa objecting to them at the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal, but with no proper follow up or monitoring, nothing much seems to have happened on the ground over these objections.
Take for instance the Virdi dam constructed by Maharashtra on Kattika nullah (a sub-tributary of the Valvanti) at Dodamarg.
In 2006, Maharashtra proposed the dam at a location just 500m away from Goa’s border. Goa agreed in-principle to the proposal on the condition that the water will be utilised in the Mhadei basin and additional water will be diverted to the Anjunem dam of Goa.
However, without informing Goa, Maharashtra changed the dam’s location, resumed work on it in 2018 and has managed to complete 80% of the project that aims to divert water from the Mhadei basin to the Tillari basin.
The dam has a live storage of over 14Mcum, said members of the Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan.
In March 2018, a team of Goa’s WRD officials visited Virdi and collected information on the preparations for the work by Maharashtra and WRD executive engineer Dinesh Mahale submitted his report to the Goa government.
The Goa government has accordingly raised objections before the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal.
Similarly, Maharashtra has already constructed a bandhara, without any approvals, and stores water from the inter-state nullah of the Khadshi, whose water is used for irrigation and drinking purposes in Pernem taluka of Goa as well.
Maharashtra plans to utilise the water for its Aadali industrial estate.
This is not all, Maharashtra has also started constructing anicut bandhara and other structures to lift water from the Tillari, which is known as the Colvale as it enters Goa at Ibrampur, Pernem and called the Chapora downstream in Bardez, before it meets the sea.
The water is being stored by Maharashtra for diversion to 17 of its villages, up to 80km away from the site. Plans are to use 23.8MLD of water per day from the Colvale for drinking purposes and another 88.4MLD of raw water for the industrial estate at Aadali.
There is no understanding in writing between Maharashtra and Goa for utilisation of this water.
Karnataka, too, has been on a secret mission to dam a major portion of water flowing into Goa. Besides diverting the Kalasa and the Bandhura, Karnataka has long held plans, from 1988, to divert 3.85tmc ft water from the Katla and the Palna tributaries of the Dudhsagar river. Karnataka intends to divert this water into its Supa reservoir in the Kali river basin.
Karnataka is also eyeing another 1.06tmc ft water from other sources of the Dudhsagar for diversion into the Supa reservoir.
Though the Goa government has already stated its objections to the plans, during the 2014 assembly session, Karnataka stated its intentions to construct four dams in the upper reaches of the Dudhsagar on the Katla, the Palna, the Diggi-Marra and the Diggi-Bondeli. This plan was, however, not approved by the Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal.
In its revised detailed project report (DPR), Karnataka has already stated its intentions to divert the Surla in addition to the Kalasa and the Bhandura.
Additionally, after the completion of the Kalasa work, Karnataka has decided to undertake work on the Haltara dam in Chorla village of Belagavi district. Goa has raised objections against the Haltara project as it would reduce water in the Valvonti, on which stand Podoshem, Sanquelim and Assonora water treatment plants, catering to drinking water needs of areas in Bicholim, Bardez and Sattari.
“Successive governments have been inefficient in handling the water diversion issue and that has emboldened Karnataka and Maharashtra further. They want to build more dams by destroying the ecology mindlessly,” said Nirmala Sawant of Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan, who had earlier approached the Supreme Court over Karnataka’s illegal diversion of Mhadei’s waters.
Many also feel that the Goa government’s approach has been unscientific.
“Their (the Goa government) plea against Maharashtra’s diversion of the Haltara is like plain essay-writing. Our government should engage a team of experts from national organisations and create a balance sheet of sorts of the water available across basins, our requirement, till which year they can meet our requirement etc. And this document should have been submitted before the Centre,” said Ramesh Gauns, who has spent decades taking legal recourse for protection of Goa’s groundwater.
“There are nine states in the country presently in dispute over water. In this situation, with weak will on part of the Goa government and its officials, what is the likelihood of our water issues getting addressed,” he said.