PANAJI
As the Pramod Sawant-led Goa government is busy swaying voters ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the Karnataka government “ in violation of its submission before the Supreme Court not to undertake any work for Mhadei river water diversion “ has once again commenced work at Kankumbi to divert the flow of monsoon water towards the Kalasa project through deep channels.
Environmentalist and member of Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan Rajendra Kerkar informed The Goan that deep channels have been dug at Kankumbi to allow water to flow into the conduit built in the area. He pointed out that Karnataka has even felled large number of trees at the site, which is inside the government notified reserved forest, without obtaining any permission.
“The work is going on in full swing. When I brought this to the notice of the WRD Mhadei cell in-charge, he said that the matter will be raised before the government for necessary action. However, no steps have been taken in that direction,” Kerkar said that informing that the work is in complete violation of the Karnataka’s submission before the Supreme Court not to go ahead with water diversion work till the petition is disposed of.
The work is presently undertaken on channels to take monsoonal water into its conduit built at Kankumbi, he said.
Despite repeated attempts, WRD Minister Subhash Shirodkar remained unavailable for the comments.
Meanwhile, the GFP President and MLA Vijai Sardesai slammed the government for acting deaf, blind and dumb on Mhadei issue. “In a move that should shock every self-respecting Goan, Karnataka has started the construction of a nullah to divert water from Kalasa to Malaprabha basin,” he said.
He also criticised WRD Minister’s failure to call for a House Committee meeting, despite assurance. “Goa’s abject surrender to Karnataka exposes once again its willingness to overlook the impending water disaster facing poor Goans so that 28 Karnataka BJP MPs get elected,” the MLA charged.
Sardesai has demanded that the government release an immediate statement on the development and come clean.
The Supreme Court, who has clubbed all the petitions pertaining to Mhadei river water diversion, including Goa government’s special leave petition challenging Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal’s 2018 Award, has listed the matter for next hearing on August 5, 2024.
During the last hearing held in February, all the three riparian States “ Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra were granted liberty to file additional submissions within a period of eight weeks.
In January, Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd (KNNL) floated the tender for completing the Kalasa project within a year. This was followed by Karnataka State Board of Wildlife granting permission for acquisition of forest land for diversion of Kalasa Nala to Malaprabha basin.
