The latest Mhadei water row is snowballing into a political slugfest. The question to ask is where was the government and political parties which are now screaming out their love for ‘mother Goa’ all this while? It was on May 2, 2019, that Karnataka had submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change seeking exemption from the Environmental Impact Assessment to its water project. Karnataka’s move to seek exemption was first highlighted in The Goan on May 8. It’s been nearly six months and nobody spoke a word on this crucial issue that impacts Goa’s water supply.
The Goa government should have been seized of the matter and immediately raised their objection with the MoEF. The State had grounds for objections since a petition challenging the Mhadei tribunal award is pending in Supreme Court. However, Mhadei was forgotten while politicos in the State were fighting their own battles for power.
Seriousness has now dawned on the Goa Forward and the party has decided to move the National Green Tribunal challenging the Centre’s move. But if we may recall, this application was moved by Karnataka when the party’s MLA Deepak Pauskar was the Water Resource Minister. Why did Pauskar and his party supremo Vijai Sardesai, who enjoyed a stronghold in the government, remain silent? This sudden show of solidarity has no meaning and the belated announcement of moving NGT and cacophony over ‘mother Goa’ are a sham. The motives are clear as daylight.
Goa had its share of controversies over Mhadei waters umpteen times. In December 2017, the then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in an unprecedented gesture wrote to BJP’s Karnataka state unit president B S Yeddyurappa that Goa will not oppose reasonable and justified quantum of drinking water to Karnataka. Parrikar had even agreed for bilateral talks with Karnataka over the release of drinking water while going to the extent of saying that sharing Mhadei water with Karnataka was inevitable since the river passes through three States. The change of heart was visible even as the State was fighting a pitched and costly battle in the Mhadei Water Tribunal. Why was this not being debated?
We need to understand the fact that the Centre’s interest would revolve around Karnataka in comparison to Goa given the fact that it is a larger State and because the BJP went into the election on the plank of resolving the vexed water issue. From Goa’s perspective, the State needs the goodwill of both, Prakash Javadekar, Union Environment Minister and Pralhad Joshi, Union Mines Minster to take the crucial mining issue forward. Hence, the government will have to think twice before challenging the Centre’s decision in the Supreme Court or the tribunals.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant hails from Sanquelim and is well-versed with Mhadei. He faces an uphill task from here and probably will have to wait till the forest clearances come up. This will be a litmus test of his leadership.
