PANAJI
The occasion may have been the meeting of the Inter-State Control Board of Tillari Irrigation Project held after 13 long years but when Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and his Maharashtra counterpart Eknath Shinde were in the same room, it was Mhadei conundrum that overshadowed all else.
Emerging out of the meeting, Shinde spoke of Maharashtra and Goa having a filial connection and would therefore work in tandem in the Mhadei water sharing dispute involving Karnataka.
Apart from Shinde and Sawant, the meeting which decided to resolve issues of the Tillari project with a spend of over Rs 300 crore, was attended by Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Goa's Water Resources Minister Subhash Shirodkar and senior officials of both State governments.
“Goa and Maharashtra will tackle Mhadei together against Karnataka," Shinde said, adding that Goa is like "younger brother" of Maharashtra.
Although Goa's dispute on Mhadei is mainly with Karnataka over the latter's Tribunal and Centre endorsed plan to divert the river's waters outside the basin, Maharashtra is also party to the vexed interstate dispute and has in the past taken stances not conducive to Goa's interests.
The Mhadei originates in Karnataka but meanders for nearly 75% of its course in Goa and briefly flows through Maharashtra.
Tillari Irrigation Project, meanwhile is a joint venture of Goa and Maharashtra governments and meets drinking water and irrigation needs of much of North Goa.
At the Saturday meet of the Inter-State Control Board, decisions and discussions centered around revival of the over three decades old Tillari project with repairs of breached canals, possible increase of the dam's height and settling of compensation claims of project affected families.
A comprehensive study of the entire Tillari project was also approved with setting up of a joint office for canal rehabilitation and overall management at the dam site.
Of the 21.93 TMC of Tillari's capacity, Goa utilizes 16.10 TMC and 5.83 TMC is Maharashtra's share. Nearly 16,978 hectares in Goa comes under its command area while only 6,676 hectares is covered in Maharashtra.
