SUNDAY, MAY 05, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: Stating that there are no disputes with the neighbouring Goa, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that his State and Goa will fight the Mhadei issue together against Karnataka.
Shinde made this statement in presence of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and WRD Minister Subhash Shirodkar on the sidelines of the Interstate Control Board of Tillari Irrigation Project meeting in Mumbai.
Responding to Maharashtra’s stand on the inter-state Mhadei river issue, Shinde said, “Goa and Maharashtra are brothers and there are no disputes within. We are going to fight together against Karnataka.”
Welcoming Shinde’s statement, Sawant said, “If we both are together, it will benefit Goa in a big way”
The three states are engaged in a dispute over the sharing of the Mhadei river water and Goa has often accused Karnataka of trying to move ahead with projects unilaterally by ignoring mutual pacts. Goa and Karnataka are battling out a two-decade-long dispute over the sharing of the Mhadei waters.
Earlier in April, the Maharashtra government had moved its machinery to begin work on the Virdi dam. It plans to construct the dam across the Valvanti River via its Kattika tributary in Virdi, located along the Goa-Maharashtra border. However, the work was stopped following notice issued by the Goa government.
Earlier, in January, the Centre approved Karnataka’s DPR for Kalasa-Bhandura project over River Mhadei.
Mhadei, also known as the Mandovi River in Goa and Mahadayi in Karnataka, is considered as a lifeline in the northern parts of Goa. It originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea in Panjim in Goa, while briefly flowing through Maharashtra.
The Mhadei water dispute between Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra was settled by a tribunal in 2018, with 13.42 TMC of water allocated to Karnataka, 1.33 TMC to Maharashtra and 24 TMC to Goa. The decision was notified by the Central government in 2020.
However, all the three States moved to the Supreme Court challenging the Award. Goa filed a Special Leave Petition and a contempt petition in the Supreme Court in 2019 and 2020 respectively, challenging the allocation and accusing Karnataka of illegal water diversion.
