‘Will do everything to oppose Karnataka’s Mhadei diversion’

PANAJI: A day after Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai said that the Goa legislative assembly’s resolution opposing the diversion of the Mhadei’s water will not have any impact on the work by Karnataka, his Goa counterpart Pramod Sawant said that Goa is firmly against the work.
“No matter what anyone says, we are firm in our decision, and we will do whatever has to be done for Mhadei, legally, politically, and technically. We are taking whatever steps need to be taken,” said Sawant on Tuesday.
At last week’s assembly session, a 12-member House panel was formed under Goa’s water resources minister Subhash Shirodkar.
The panel is an attempt to strengthen the state’s case against Karnataka’s diversion of the Mhadei. The Goa assembly also passed a unanimous resolution opposing the nod given by the Central Water Commission to Karnataka’s Kalasa-Bhandura water diversion detailed project report (DPR), after a seven-hour long discussion.
Bommai on Monday said that the Goa assembly resolution opposing the diversion of the water from the Mhadei basin into the Malaprabha basin will not impact the work on the Kalasa-Bhandura project initiated by his government. He said the DPR of the Kalasa-Bhandura project has already been approved.
Goa’s industries and transport minister Mauvin Godinho, however, said that Bommai’s statements should be viewed in light of the upcoming polls in Karnataka.
“Future wars will be fought over water, and this is like a war only for us. We should all fight together as Goans and in one voice we should demand that we get the Mhadei’s waters without any diversion. Otherwise, what we call golden Goa today, will turn into a deserted land. He (Bommai) is in election mode. You know what statements can be made in election mode. But we will have the last say,” said Godinho.
Bommai has said that as soon as the forest clearance is obtained, the tender will be floated for the Kalasa-Bhandura water diversion project.
The riparian states of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra have all challenged the award of the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal in the water sharing matter. Besides, Goa has recently filed an interlocutory application in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the approval granted by the Central Water Commission to the Kalasa-Bhandura project.