Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol .(File | Nagaraja Gadekal)
BELAGAVI: Weeks after giving approval to the revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Kalasa-Banduri project to enable Karnataka government to commence work on diversion of Mahadayi river water into Karnataka from Goa, the Union government has decided to establish the office of Mahadayi Water Authority (PRAWAH) in Panaji, Goa.
Even as Karnataka Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol said on Thursday that the government will start work on the project soon, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the setting up of Mahadayi Water Authority office in Goa will help his state in preventing diversion of water from Mahadayi river and claimed that the Union government will not do any injustice to Goa.
In Belagavi, Karjol, however, said the Mahadayi Water Authority, which the Centre has formed afresh, would include members from all the stakeholder states, including Karnataka. He reiterated the Karnataka government’s commitment to implement the Mahadayi project.
“After giving approval to the state’s DPR, the Union cabinet approved the creation of PRAWAH. The PRAWAH will help the stakeholder states to utilise their respective share of water which the tribunal has already allotted,’’ said Karjol. He added that the state government had proposed to allot land in Athani to the Forest Department as an alternative to the forest land which would be utilised under the Kalasa-Banduri project.
