PANAJI
Amid the ongoing Mhadei water dispute between Goa and Karnataka, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Thursday said a solution to the issue would be worked out soon.
Shekhawat, who met the Goa delegation at his official residence in Delhi on Thursday, took to Twitter to say that the Mhadei water dispute was discussed.
"Very soon an amicable solution to this issue will be brought," Shekhawat tweeted.
After the meeting, Shekhawat said, “Goa chief minister had come to meet me at my Delhi residence along with other delegates. We discussed Mhadei water distribution issue. For sure, the solution to the issue would be worked out”.
Meanwhile, Sawant who arrived in the State said, his government will continue to fight the issue throughout its tenure. Technically and legally we will continue the fight, he added.
"We are confident that no injustice will be meted out to Goa. We are confident that we will win this battle,” he asserted.
The Sawant-led government has come under sharp attack from the Opposition and also civil society ever since reports emerged that the Central Water Commission had granted its nod to the Karnataka government's DPRs of dam projects at Kalasa and Bhandura to divert Mhadei waters.
The chief minister has also demanded that the Centre constitute the Water Management Authority as mandated by the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT) in its August 2018 award.
Sawant said, the issue is a long-standing one and timelines for its resolution cannot be specified off-hand.
Widely seen as a ploy to electorally milk the Mhadei dispute for political dividends in the upcoming Assembly elections in Karnataka, it nonetheless has kicked up a storm with the Opposition slamming Sawant's government and accusing it of betraying Goa's interests.
The delegation led by CM had on Wednesday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi and urged for the immediate constitution of a water management authority to resolve the issue of diversion of the Mahadayi river water.
Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra have challenged the award by the inter-state water dispute tribunal in 2019 over sharing water of the Mahadayi river. The case is currently before the Supreme Court.
