PANJIM: Once again it was disappointment for Goa in the Mhadei river dispute as the two contempt petitions failed to come up as the Supreme Court bench did not sit on Wednesday.
As per the cause list released on Sunday, the two contempt petitions filed by the Goa government against Karnataka government for diverting Mhadei water for its Kalasa-Bhandura nala project were listed for hearing before the two-member bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta on Wednesday. Similarly, civil applications filed by Karnataka and Maharashtra were also listed for hearing on the same day.
According to information available, Advocate General Devidas Pangam, Water Resources Department (WRD) chief engineer Pramod Badami and his team of engineers and consultants were present in the court. There are bleak chances that the matter would come for hearing on Thursday as well because one of the Judges Justice Sanjiv Khanna is likely to be one of the members of five-judge Constitution Bench.
Earlier, on occasions the matter was deferred even after being listed — first in the last week of November and again in the first week of December last year. After almost four years, the Apex Court in July last year admitted special leave petition (SLP) filed by the Goa government, challenging the decision of the Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT) allocating Karnataka 13.42 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) of water for its Kalasa-Bhandura drinking water-cum-irrigation project.
The Tribunal awarded 24 tmc of water to Goa, and 1.33 tmc to Maharashtra. However, all three riparian States have filed petitions in the Supreme Court against the Award.
The Tribunal Award was announced on August 14, 2018. But the Goa government challenged it in July 2019.
Goa has apprehended that if Karnataka is allowed to divert water from Mhadei basin to the Malaprabha basin for two dams upstream then it would reduce flow of fresh water into the Mhadei river and will affect the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and flora and fauna in the State.
Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan counsel Adv Bhavani Shankar Gadnis said that the Goa government is wasting time and money on trips to the national capital. He said that Goa’s counsel should make a mention requesting the court to give a date to hear the matter, which should be listed on the top of the cause list.
These matters cannot be heard through video conferencing and they have to be heard in open court where lawyers should argue their matter.
