India is a democratic country and therefore the people are supreme and it is the bounden duty of every State government and the country at large to ensure that the rights of its citizens are protected.
The issue of diversion of river Mhadei has been plaguing the tiny state of Goa for a long time with both the states of Karnataka and Goa at loggerheads with each other. However, it is important to accept the fact that what Goa is seeking is that river Mhadei continues to flow as per nature's plan.
Mhadei/Mandovi has its origin in Degao village in Karnataka. The Khalsa and Bhandura tributaries of Mhadei enter Goa as Surla river from where she is called Mhadei till Gange and from Usgao to Panaji the river is known as Mandovi. The river flows 81 kms into Goa and empties herself in the Arabian sea feeding her waters to six talukas of Goa.
It is obvious that nature has designed the flow of the river Mhadei/Mandovi as it is one of the major river systems flowing through the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary before it exits into the Arabian sea.
The Mhadei river flows through the biodiversity rich western ghats — a biodiversity hotspot of wet evergreen forest. The river also flows through one of the finest corridors for large mammals and the region is also rich in reptilian diversity and high in endemism and therefore the impending cause of concern is that the diversion of the river will impact the delicate population of the fauna in these tropical forests.
It is therefore imperative to know whether, at the state level, the Government of Goa has done the following:
(a) A scientific seasonal study of the Mhadei river over dry and rainy seasons over a 2-year period in order to monitor the river system and its consequences within state of Goa and the Mhadei region as a whole.
(b) Whether the Government of the day has made a study of the agricultural impact on the land if the river water in question is reduced by its flow or it consequently dries up?
(c) Whether the Government has done a study of the impact the diversion of the river will have on the flora and fauna in the Mhadei Sanctuary of the state of Goa?
(d) What be the impact of the consequent intrusion/ingress of the sea water on the land, agricultural land within the state of Goa?
(e) What will be the impact of the river diversion on the fish and other marine fauna area of the state of Goa?
(f) What will be the impact on the availability of ground water and the consequences on the existing wells?
(g) What will be the increase in soil salinity and its impact on agriculture and the existing flora?
It is also of vital importance for the Government of the state of Goa to recollect the Supreme Court Judgement of 17-08-2017 wherein the Learned Counsel for the state of Karnataka says that no construction is going on in the area in question ie Khalsa Bhandura Project and that no construction will be carried out — definitely an assurance given by the state Government of Karnataka.
The diversion of Mhadei/Mandovi is indeed a huge life related subject as it is related to all the vital parameters that allow life to continue and therefore it is the bounden duty of the Government of the day to be responsible and do that which is right by the State of Goa and the people of Goa, ‘Say No To Diversion Of Mhadei’!
(Alina Saldanha is a former Minister of Environment and Forests)