PANAJI: Environmentalist and secretary of the Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan, Rajendra Kerkar, has accused Karnataka of diverting water from the Kalasa tributary into the Malaprabha basin at Kankumbi, while criticising Goa Water Resources Minister Subhash Shirodkar for allegedly denying the diversion.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Kerkar said Shirodkar’s statement that Karnataka had not succeeded in diverting or blocking Mhadei water was “completely incorrect” and a distortion of facts.
Meanwhile, he said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has pushed for joint inspections by the Mhadei PRAWAH Authority with selected officials from the water resources departments of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka to ascertain how the Kalasa tributary is being diverted at Kankumbi.
Kerkar said Karnataka had earlier assured the court that it would not divert or use Mhadei water until the final hearing. He claimed the alleged violation of this assurance had led Goa to file a contempt petition in 2018.
Kerkar further alleged that nearly 3.5 km of the Kalasa tributary’s basin near Kankumbi had been “completely destroyed” to facilitate the diversion.
He said two streams originate near the Rameshwar temple. One flows towards the Malaprabha and eventually joins the Krishna River, while the other, the Kalasa tributary, flows towards Goa and enters the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as the Nanodai stream. “The Nanodai stream merges with the main Mhadei River at Guleli and eventually flows onward as the Mandovi River,” he said.
Kerkar claimed that water which would naturally flow towards Goa was being diverted at Kankumbi into the Malaprabha basin. He said local residents had witnessed the diversion and that senior Water Resources Department officials had also verified it and submitted a report to the Goa government. “This is the ground reality. Karnataka has successfully diverted the Mhadei’s Kalasa water,” Kerkar said.
Reacting to Karnataka Agriculture Minister P M Narendra Swamy’s suggestion that the Mhadei issue should be resolved in a “friendly environment”, Kerkar questioned how such a settlement was possible while the alleged diversion continued. “How can it be solved in a friendly environment when Karnataka has been executing this project since 2000 in an ecologically sensitive zone?” he asked.
Kerkar alleged that trees had been cut, concrete structures built and underground canals excavated in the reserve forest to channel water towards the Malaprabha basin. “This is the reality,” he said, adding that residents of Khanapur had attributed recurring flooding in the area to the diversion.
Kerkar also raised concerns over Karnataka’s plans to channel water from the Markandeya River basin into the Rakaskop reservoir, which supplies water to Belagavi city.
He questioned whether the Goa government had examined the implications of these developments, including Karnataka’s alleged efforts to divert water from the Dhamne dam, some of which flows towards Goa. “The Water Resources Department must thoroughly study these developments. Only after that should the minister make statements, rather than distorting facts and misleading the public,” Kerkar said.
