A letter written by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP resident B S Yeddurappa, stating that Goa was open to a bilateral dialogue on “reasonable and justified’ release of drinking water, from the Mhadei, has unleashed a lot of words, both spoken and written. This kind of a reaction was not unexpected and the undercurrents and over currents of this letter, its manifestations and fall out will need far more nuanced and detailed analysis, which will indeed to be done.
Currently the Chief Minister and the party need to handle the primary perception surrounding this decision, which is, that the BJP power machine in Delhi, convinced the Goa government of indicating that a beyond the sidelines dialogue was possible; even as the dispute lies with the Mhadei Water disputes tribunal. This is a tough call because the very reason that the Goa Chief Minster wrote to the BJP president and not the state Chief Minister makes it clear that it this was decision triggered by the party.
While Mr Parrikar did write the letter, he has actually left enough scope to capitalise Goa’s clear advantage in winning the battle for Mhadei waters which was borne out during the hearings at the disputes tribunal. And the words ‘reasonable and justified’ used in his letter are safety nets. But here’s the catch. Both the words reasonable and justified are subjective. They are subject to who is interpreting them.
If Goa retains the right to interpret what is reasonable and justified, then the Chief Minster’s letter says it all. However the apprehension, and given Karanataka’s track record, (this apprehension is not misplaced) is that the interpretation of what is reasonable and justified, may be dictated by Karnataka’s political needs and not Goa’s water needs.
And everyone who asks, can Karnataka be trusted in making this justified and reasonable is justified in asking this. The problem does not lie with Goa. It never has been. The big ask is how much pressure the Modi government would exert in its need to back Karnataka, in order for the party to win vital seats in the Karnataka Assembly polls,
It is in this context that a letter written to the Chief Minister, by Dr Nandkumar Kamat, the highly respected academic who was a member of the government’s Expert Panel on Mhadei diversion is significant. The letter written after the Chief Minister’s letter to B S Yeddurappa was made public, stated, “You are perfectly aware of the changing dimensions of Karnataka’s demands. What they began initially as a drinking water project turned out to be a cover up for creating additional irrigation potential in north Karnataka. Mahadeyi diversion is just one part of their ambitious plan of diverting water flowing in Goa from Dudhsagar section as well.”
Therefore, the sum and substance of this development is that Goa has to deal with both the state of Karnataka and the BJP high command. It has dealt with Karnataka very well over the years and actually exposed them in front of the MWDT. It is unlikely, that left to its own, Goa will accept anything un-reasonable the way it sees it, even with regard to drinking water, when it is clear that Karnataka does not need more than 1 TMC. Any ask above that is suspicious. But how it handles and responds to the ruling party at centre completely out to woo the farmers of North Karnataka Karnataka, will need administrative and political skill of the highest order. And that is something that the Goa’s Chief Minster- to the agreement of his critics- is not short of.
The Congress in Goa, inspite of holding a press conference to oppose the letter of the Chief Minister, has very little moral ground to stand on, on this issue. In the 1990’s, it was the Congress government, under the then Water Resources Minister Dayanand Narvekar, which almost decided to share 7.5 TMC of water from the Mhadei tributaries with Karnataka. At least on the issue of Mhadei, the Goa Congress and its then government have been the original and principal ditchers.
