the goan I network
PANAJI
Under fire from the Opposition and civil society on the contentious dispute with Karnataka over Mhadei water diversion, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday reiterated his optimism of a positive solution saying he had spoken on it to Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.
Addressing the media at his customary post-cabinet press conference, Sawant said: “A position solution will come soon. I have spoken to Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar about our memorandum demanding the withdrawal of the letter to Karnataka and he has assured a positive solution soon.”
The contentious Mhadei dispute between Goa and Karnataka dates back to more than three decades. It was referred to a water tribunal by the Centre which passed an award in 2018, where it allotted some 13-odd TMC of water to Karnataka, including some 3-odd TMC for diversion to the depleted Malaprabha basin.
The recent controversy broke out after a letter purportedly written to officials of the Karnataka irrigation department by the MoEF&CC became public and which suggested Karnataka did not need an ‘environment clearance’ for its project to dam water at Kalasa-Bhandura to divert water for a ‘drinking water’ project.
The letter was made public by Javadekar himself through a post on his official Twitter handle in which he complimented his cabinet colleague Prahlad Joshi, also an MP from Karnataka, for pursuing the matter diligently.
Javadekar, however, deleted the Tweet after angry reactions from Goa. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant soon dashed off to Delhi and registered his protest with the MoEF&CC as the head of an all-party delegation. Sawant demanded that Javadekar get the ministry to immediately withdraw the letter.
Meanwhile, the issue has dominated the political discourse with Sawant coming under fire from the Opposition parties including the Congress, GFP and Aam Aadmi Party for nearly six weeks.
