It is obvious for the Mhadei issue to heat up again with Karnataka blowing poll bugle soon and it was never expected for Union Home Minister Amit
Shah to address the topic of Mhadei river diversion at his recent public meeting in Goa.
It was indeed wrong to expect for Shah to say something that would have got his party into trouble at the local level. The people in Karnataka do need water and hence it was ideal of the Union Home Minister to include the topic in his speech while campaigning there.
Everyone has the freedom to speak on whichever topic they wish at a political meeting and although the Opposition has the right to demand clarity over the matter, this is not the right time to politicise the issue. The issue shouldn’t stay limited only to Mhadei river but the emphasis has to be on protecting the entire Western Ghats. Most activists won't remember that the movement to protect the Western Ghats began in Goa. The 100-day walk from Navapur to Kanyakumari was held as a part of the awareness programme and a walk from both the sides had concluded at Ramnathi, Ponda. Youth who had participated in the campaign then are now in their 60s today and still in the spirit to carry on their crusade. They had also tried to unify the individual attempts to protect the Ghats. In fact, the issue is not restricted to Mhadei only as its huge expanse also takes the Western Ghats into its arms. The time has come to tell the World from the rooftops that the drinking and irrigation projects initiated by Karnataka are posing grave danger to the existence of the Ghats.
This issue has to be handled by going beyond mere political accusations. Although the Western Ghats is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, no one seems to have shown enough seriousness to protect the mountain range. There is a need for environmentalists and activists to think why only the areas in Maharashtra and Karnataka are designated as world heritage sites but not a single area in Goa which falls right in the middle of both the States has been given such a recognition. Only 39 areas in total from Western Ghats are designated as heritage sites and some areas have been deliberately omitted. Despite Goa having a rare natural heritage, it lacks a designated world heritage area. It should be examined whether this has been done to safeguard mining business in the State.
There is need to understand the relation between Shah keeping mum over Mhadei but promising to resume the mining operations in the State. The journey of 39 areas achieving world heritage status wasn’t easy as the World Heritage Committee in 2011 had rejected the proposal to acknowledge these areas as heritage sites. The proposal was on the way to be rejected again in 2012 and India was suggested to improvise the report. Then Madhav Gadgil Committee chose environmentally sensitive areas and the respective committee had faced stern opposition from many states that time. The argument was that once an area is designated as a world heritage site then it’d prove to be a blockade for the development in the respective area. However, the Indian delegation was able to convince the world heritage committee regarding the quality and potential of the proposal. Representatives of Algeria, Cambodia, Colombia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Japan, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, UAE and Thailand too, stood firmly behind India which strengthened India’s proposal. The same year, 39 areas in Western Ghats received the recognition as world heritage sites at last. Hence, it’d be only appropriate to not allow Karnataka fell the trees in order to safeguard these designated heritage sites. No one can oppose the diversion for drinking water and in fact, we would be criticised for doing the same. Therefore Karnataka is trying to divert the water by citing water scarcity in Hubli, Dharwad region. Goa therefore should bring forth the matter of environment and world heritage sites being in danger as a response to Karnataka’s sly moves and catch them in the corner, legally.
The forests in the Ghats are extremely crucial in controlling the carbon emissions and reduce the rise in temperature. Hence, the opportunity to expose Karnataka’s intentions at global level should be taken.
Western Ghats are older than the Himalayas and is one of the hottest biodiversity hotspots in the entire world. It’s an home to at-least 325 endangered species and there are flaura and faunas which are endemic to the region. Let alone the insane variety in the biodiversity, the mountain range also influences the monsoon weather patterns which makes it all the more important for it to be safeguarded.