State team inspects worksite; more dams are in the pipeline
Panaji/Sankhali: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said the state has issued a notice to the Maharashtra government asking it to stop the work on the Virdi dam, which has been resumed after a hiatus of seven years.
Maharashtra has delivered a blow to Goa by resuming its work on the dam on the Valvanti river, which flows into Goa. The move comes as the double whammy for the state, which has been fighting a legal battle with Karnataka over its Kalasa and Banduri project that seeks to divert the Mhadei (Mahadayi) water.
Speaking to mediapersons on Monday, Sawant said his government has asked officials to have a detailed inquiry on permissions and approvals obtained by Maharashtra for the dam construction.
The Maharashtra government resumed the work on Sunday at the contentious dam site in Dodamarg taluka across the Kattika nullah, which is a tributary of the Valvanti river.
On the instructions of the Chief Minister, chief engineer of the water resources department Pramod Badami sent a team of engineers led by executive engineer, Mhadei cell, Dilip Naik to the dam site to get first-hand information on the work.
It is understood that the team inspected the site and submitted a report to the department, which is seeking details vis-à-vis permissions and approval for the work resumption.
Sources from the Maharashtra government claimed that the neighbouring state has obtained environment and other clearances to restart the work.
It is also understood that Maharashtra has plans to construct four more dams in nearby villages.
Shidbachi Mal, Dhangarwadi, Morachi Rai and Amadgao (Matne) in Dodamarg taluka of Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra have been identified for constructing the dams, environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar claimed.
Kerkar maintained that a tunnel constructed at the Virdi dam site is being repaired to divert more water to parts of Dodamarg.
The resumption of the dam work has caused consternations in Goa. Activists maintained that the work has been resumed without obtaining any permissions, and that too when the matter of water sharing with Maharashtra is pending in the Supreme Court.
It is pertinent to note that the Virdi dam work had been stopped in February 2015 after the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal ordered the Maharashtra government to resume the work only after obtaining all necessary environment and other statutory permissions.
In 2013, a three-member team of the tribunal visited Virdi, where the work had been going on, and raised various questions.
On August 14, 2018 the tribunal gave its final awards and allocated Maharashtra 1.33 tmc ft of water for in-basin use.
The Sawant government has been at the receiving end as it has failed to build up pressure on the Union government to withdraw the approval granted by the Central Water Commission to the detailed project report for the Kalasa and Banduri project.
Incidentally, the BJP is in power at the Centre, as also in Goa and Karnataka.
In Maharashtra the BJP is part of the alliance government led by Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena.