Rajendra Kerkar
For The Goan
August 14, 2026 marks eight years since the Water Disputes Tribunal (MWDT) delivered its Award, ending years of adjudication over the interstate dispute involving Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The Award, notified by the Centre in February 2020 subject to pending Supreme Court proceedings, gave Goa a significant legal foundation, recognising its downstream interests and allocating it an additional 24 TMC of water over its existing utilisation.
Yet eight years later, the central question remains: has Goa translated that legal victory into a long-term water security strategy, or has the issue remained confined to litigation, meetings and political rhetoric? The Award was never meant to be the end of the dispute—it was the beginning of its implementation.
The Mahadayi is not merely a river whose waters are to be shared among States. For Goa, where it becomes the Mandovi, it sustains drinking water, agriculture, forests, wetlands, fisheries and estuarine ecology. The Tribunal’s Award also led to the creation of the Mhadei PRAWAH Authority under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, giving Goa an institutional mechanism, alongside a strong body of legal and technical evidence, to safeguard its interests. The challenge today is not the absence of legal tools but whether Goa is using them effectively.
The paradox is striking. After years of legal struggle, important court proceedings are still pending, concerns over upstream diversion continue, the Kalasa-Banduri issue remains unresolved, and PRAWAH has yet to provide the decisive regulatory assurance Goa expected. At the same time, Karnataka continues to keep the Mahadayi issue alive politically, signalling that it does not consider the dispute settled. Goa cannot afford to respond only after projects move ahead. Modern river disputes are increasingly decided at the stages of project reports, environmental clearances, hydrological assessments and statutory approvals.
The focus also needs to move beyond Kalasa-Banduri alone. Multiple upstream interventions, even if individually small, can cumulatively affect lean-season flows, groundwater recharge, salinity intrusion, fisheries, agriculture and drinking-water availability in Goa. The State urgently requires a basin-wide cumulative assessment of every existing and proposed intervention in the Mahadayi basin rather than reacting project by project.
Equally significant is the Award’s provision permitting review after August 2048. Though more than two decades away, that date should drive planning today. If Goa fails to utilise its allocated share, build storage and conservation infrastructure, maintain robust hydrological data and scientifically establish future water requirements, it risks entering any future review with a weak evidentiary foundation. Water security cannot depend solely on court battles.
Goa therefore requires a three-pronged strategy—legal, technical and political. Legally, every pending case should be reviewed, early hearings pursued where necessary and major political decisions guided by written legal advice. Technically, the State should establish a permanent Mhadei Legal-Technical Monitoring Cell comprising experts in hydrology, environmental science, remote sensing, groundwater, GIS, engineering and interstate water law to maintain continuous monitoring of upstream developments through satellite imagery, field inspections and flow data. Politically, the Chief Minister should lead an all-party institutional approach so that the issue remains a permanent State priority rather than an occasional political slogan.
One of Goa’s greatest weaknesses has been treating Mhadei as a seasonal issue that resurfaces during Assembly sessions or elections before fading into bureaucratic files. Karnataka, by contrast, has maintained sustained pressure irrespective of which party is in power. Goa needs similar continuity through a permanent all-party mechanism that meets regularly and pursues a common strategy beyond electoral cycles.
PRAWAH itself must become more than a discussion forum. If Goa seeks joint inspections of disputed diversion structures, technical verification should not be indefinitely delayed merely because litigation is pending. Facts must be measured, documented and placed on record. Similarly, any pending contempt or disobedience proceedings relating to diversion structures require systematic legal management supported by updated technical evidence.
The Award also created an opportunity for Goa to plan utilisation of its allocated waters scientifically. Rather than debating isolated projects, the State should prepare a comprehensive Mhadei Basin Water Security Plan centred on conservation, storage where scientifically justified, groundwater recharge, efficient irrigation, ecological protection and drinking-water security. Every drop retained within Goa strengthens its future legal position.
To translate intent into action, the government should adopt a time-bound programme. Within 30 days, it should complete a legal audit of all pending cases, establish a permanent monitoring cell, update the status of upstream projects and prepare a comprehensive PRAWAH agenda. Within 60 days, it should undertake technical inspections, establish continuous flow monitoring and initiate satellite-based surveillance. Within 90 days, Goa should prepare a Mhadei Water Security Master Plan up to 2048, strengthen evidence for pending Supreme Court matters and develop contingency plans for future upstream diversion. Regular monthly reviews should hold officials accountable for monitoring Karnataka’s actions, PRAWAH decisions and Goa’s legal and technical responses.
Ultimately, Mhadei cannot become another arena for partisan politics. Governments and parties will change, but Goa’s dependence on the river will not. The eighth anniversary of the Tribunal Award should therefore not be observed as a ceremonial milestone but as the point at which Goa shifts from reactive litigation to sustained implementation. The strongest defence of the Mhadei will come not from political rhetoric alone, but from the combined strength of law, science, continuous monitoring, institutional preparedness and political unity.
