MARGAO
Condemning Union Minister Amit Shah’s announcement that the Mhadei river water dispute has been resolved in consultation with Goa government, the Camurlim village gram sabha on Sunday has demanded that the Goa government headed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant come clear on the controversy.
Pointing out that the future wars will be fought on water, the gram sabha has also given the nod for water conversation and harvesting in the village to meet the water requirements in the village with the cooperation and assistance of the Water Resources Department.
When the issue came for discussion at the gram sabha chaired by Sarpanch Basil Fernandes, members condemned the statement made by the Union Home Minister that the Mhadei river water dispute between Goa and Karnataka has been resolved in consultation with the Goa government. They demanded to know how come the Union Minister could make such a bold statement when the people of Goa are fighting to save Mhadei and the Goa government promising not to concede water to the neighbouring state.
After much discussion, the gram sabha condemned the Union Home Minister’s announcement and at the same time demanded that the Goa government headed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant come clear on Mhadei river water.
The gram sabha also demanded that the Centre immediately revoke the Detailed Project Report (DPR) nod given to Karnataka to divert the Mhadei river water to build the dams at Bhandura and Khalsa.
Meanwhile, Camurlim Sarpanch Basil Fernandes informed that the panchayat will take up water conservation measures in the village to save the spring water from going waste into the river Zuari. “It is predicted that the future wars will be fought on water. Hence, it becomes our duty to protect our water resources. In Camurlim, we have a perennial spring nallah, whose water flows into the river Zuari. We have decided to dam the nullah with small bhandaras and build water tanks as part of the water conservation,” he said.
