PANJIM: The cross examination of Karnataka witness A K Gosain continued on Friday at the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal, with him giving evasive answers. The Tribunal pointed out several discrepancies to the witness to which the he could not answer satisfactorily.
The witness was confronted with the daily discharge data from hydrological observation station at Chapoli, and observed data for several sites maintained by Goa for different periods. He was questioned as to why such data was not analysed for consistency checks and why such information was not used for assessment of water availability. He was unable to give an appropriate answer and admitted to have ignored the data.
The Tribunal, referring to the September 2015 report, asked the witness as to why, he had not considered it appropriate to use conceptual models such as NAM and SWAT and while strengthening the CWC studies of 2001 and 2003, why he had not undertaken an independent study to develop an appropriate model for the Mahadayi Basin. To this the witness agreed that a conceptual model such as NAM and SWAT could be and further gave a vague justification for not using the same.
The witness was further shown typographical errors in his additional affidavit dated November 15, 2016 and was asked as to why his 2016 report did not constitute as part of his earlier affidavit of September 15, 2015. To this the witness admitted that there are typographical errors. The further cross of the witness would continue on Monday.
