Special Correspondent

Panaji: Chairman of Mahadayi PRAWAH (Progressive River Authority for Welfare and Harmony), P M Scott on Tuesday said that certain permissions can be granted for transferring water from the Mhadei river basin to outside the basin, subject to following of the protocols.

“One of such protocols is preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) based on sound data, followed by its appraisal by the central agencies and not by any of the party states,” he added.

The first meeting of the Mahadayi PRAWAH was held in Goa on Tuesday, which was headed Scott. The meeting also witnessed framing of business rules.

Later, Scott said the Authority proposes to discuss, deliberate and settle all issues regarding sustainable and equitable utilisation of water of the Mhadei/ Mandovi river basin. “There is a need to work in such a way so as to substitute conflict by cooperation,” he said.

Speaking further, the chairman of the Mahadayi PRAWAH said the Authority will function towards harmonious use of water of River Mhadei for the welfare of people of all three states namely Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka. “The scope of Mahadayi PRAWAH is from the origin of the river till its end where it meets the Arabian Sea,” he added.

“We have been able to break the ice in order to facilitate the visits of the Mahadayi PRAWAH members to the rivers and tributaries in the Mhadei basin,” Scott observed, pointing out, “This will help acclimatise members with characteristic of the basin.” He further expressed hope that the Mhadei river-related matters would be resolved amicably. The meeting was attended by all its members namely Virendra Sharma, G Naga Mohan, Manoj Tiwari, N K Manglik and Ashok Kumar.

Goa has nominated its Secretary for Water Resources as the state’s representative on the Mahadayi PRAWAH, while Karnataka has nominated Rakesh Singh, its Additional Chief Secretary as the representative. Maharashtra has nominated Milind Naik, state chief engineer of its water resources department, Konkan region, as its representative on the Authority.

The next meeting of Mahadayi PRAWAH will be held either in Karnataka or Maharashtra.

The Union cabinet in February 2023 had approved the setting up of Mahadayi PRAWAH by the Union Ministry for Jal Shakti in order to implement the final award of the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT).

Meanwhile, the Mhadei River House Committee constituted by the Goa legislative assembly will meet on February 29. Minister for Water Resources, Subhash Shirodkar is the chairman of this 12-member committee, which was constituted to study the issues related to River Mhadei and Goa vis à vis diversion of the river water by Karnataka.