the goan I network
PANAJI
An all-party delegation led by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will meet Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, asking him to withdraw a letter which says EC is not required for a drinking project across the Mhadei river.
“All party delegation will meet Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday on the Mhadei issue”, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters.
He also said that Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has not given Environment Clearance to any Mhadei-related project.
Our demand is that a ‘letter issued by MoEF stating that for a irrigation project EIA is not required’, is to be withdrawn. Javadekar had earlier assured me that he will protect Goa’s interest, CM added.
He also stated that the Mhadei issue can be solved politically and judicially but not by agitations.
Appealing to the people not to politicise the issue, Sawant said the government need not be taught about the importance of Mhadei to Goa.
It may be recalled that an inter-State water dispute tribunal, set up by the central government, after hearing the over two-decade dispute among Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra over Mhadei river water sharing had in its award in August 2018, allotted 13.42 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) from the
river basin (including 3.9 TMC for diversion into the depleted Malaprabha river basin) to Karnataka.
Maharashtra has been allotted 1.33 TMC. The Goa government has subsequently filed a special leave petition challenging some provisions of the award and has also accused Karnataka of illegally diverting water from the Mhadei basin, even before the award is formally implemented.
The Kalsa-Bhandura dam aims to divert water from the Mhadei basin to the deficit basin of the Malaprabha river ostensibly for drinking purposes.
