It comes as a surprise that BJP in Goa and Karnataka are celebrating simultaneously over the award of the Mhadei inter-state water disputes tribunal. While Karnataka has reason enough to raise a toast over a partial victory, we see no reason how Goa sees victory in defeat.
And as the fine-print of the tribunal order rolled out,
it was very obvious that a hare-brained plan of politicos
to sugarcoat a bitter defeat lay exposed. The writing is on the wall. The Mhadei inter-state water disputes tribunal allotted 13.42 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) water from the river basin to Karnataka, as against 36.55 TMC demanded by the state. The sheer numbers don’t tell the whole story, but the break-up gives a clear picture of how hollow our math is.
A major setback is the tribunal allowing diversion of 3.9 TMC water to Malaprabha dam under the Kalasa-Bhanduri Project, contrary to Goa’s firm stand against any such diversion. Punching holes in Goa’s case, the tribunal has observed that Goa failed to contest Karnataka’s claim on the 9.395 TMC of existing utilisation of Mhadei water and said Goa could not back its opposition to diversion of water outside the basin with any study.
Karnataka is awarded 13.42 TMC against their demand for 36.55 TMC, is that the story? Or is it because Goa is allowed
24 TMC against the demand of 122 TMC that we are
celebrating?
If we dissect the figures, the reading is very clear. Karnataka also got a good bargain for water diversion to Malaprabha Dam after being awarded a total of 3.9 TMC against their claim of 7.56 TMC, besides getting another 8.02 TMC for Mhadei Hydel Electricity Project against a demand of 14.971 TMC. Much against Goa’s contention that the government is not ready to release even a drop of water to Karnataka, the tribunal has acceded to their request in toto of 1.5 TMC for in basin use for irrigation and water supply.
Goa has been consistent against sharing water with Karnataka and has been vehemently opposing diversion of water. It is against this backdrop that the tribunal award comes as a huge setback and if Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar calls this a victory, then why was there any need to go to the tribunal when this could be settled amicably just the way it is awarded now, saving Goa the crores they have spent in legal fees.
The Mhadei water dispute is not over yet. For now, one battle has just ended and Karnataka is preparing ground for another. The water dispute from hereon is likely to be muddied with political hues as Karnataka decides to approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
With the BJP focusing all their energies on the Lok Sabha election, Modi cannot afford to ignore the 28 seats Karnataka has on offer. And he would most likely pull all strings to accommodate Karnataka. A positive in this direction for him could be that Goa is led by the BJP-led coalition, which makes it even easier to get the warring states to the table.
