There seems to be something missing from the debate on the Mhadei river. At a public talk and interaction on the dispute over sharing the waters of this river with Karnataka, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni told all those who had gathered, what Karnataka wants. Parsekar said he did not mind construction of a dam by the neighbouring state, which is a bit of a climb down, provided the water remains within the basin. The key objection by Goa is transfer of water to the Malaprabha basin from where water is drawn for drinking purposes in Hubballi and Dharwad. Nadkarni outlined the various demands of Karnataka, which initially demanded transfer of 7.5 TMC but claimed that its rightful share was 24 TMC. Parsekar also said that he had resisted pressure from the Karnataka government and farmers for an out of court settlement. Meanwhile work on constructing dams to divert the water and canals to transfer it to the Malaprabha basin continues in Karnataka and there is nothing Goa can legally do to stop it.
All this information is already in the public domain. What is missing is what Goa wants or needs. That unfortunately was not articulated at the talk and interaction, even though the people have a right to know. For instance, what is total quantum of water that flows down the Mhadei and into the Arabian Sea via the Mandovi? Karnataka claims that it is in the range of 200 TMC while Goa says it is around 108 TMC. Has any study been done to reconcile these two figures so that Goa has a clear idea about what it is being asked to give up?
Strangely, the government which otherwise censures greens for blocking projects is quite happy with beating the environmental and ecology drum when it comes to the Mhadei issue. Has the government taken the trouble to inform the people that use of water resources for preserving the environment is last on the list of priorities in the national water policy 2012? The policy also states that ecological needs should be determined through a scientific study. Has such a study been undertaken and if so, is the report in the public domain? If one were to go by the claims made by the State government that 108 TMC of water flows down the Mhadei, surely diversion of 7.5 TMC is not likely to hurt Goa or its ecology, but this point was not discussed or debated at the meet.
Recently an environmentalist who is in the forefront for protection of the Mhadei river lamented that the government had erred in approaching the water disputes tribunal. He might be right because all the orders passed by the tribunals thus far end with distribution of water between states. There isn’t an instance where the water rights of one state have been totally and completely ignored. This naturally puts Goa in a position where it might have to eventually share water with Karnataka and even Maharashtra. The only issue would be on the quantum. To gain a larger share Goa would have to present a very strong case for use of the water and hence it has to clearly state its needs and not depend on the ecology to bail it out. But his aspect was not debated or discussed at the meet and therefore one is inclined to conclude that the something is missing and people of Goa do not have the complete picture.
