Team Herald
PONDA: Goans need to stay alert as Karntaka plans to divert all tributaries of Mhadei flowing into Goa, warned environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar on Tuesday.
“For survival, we need forest and hills. Just because we have gold, we can’t eat it. Therefore we need forests, hills, rivers and oxygen for existence, environmentalist. Goa needs Mhadei forest tiger reserve,” Goan Environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar said at a public meeting on Mhadei river awareness in Ponda.
He said Goans, including MLAs, need to stay alert and need to understand the importance of Mhadei river for existence of Goa as Karntaka has plans to divert all tributaries of Mhadei flowing into Goa, including the Dudhsagar Khandepar river on which Opa water treatment plant is based.
He said more detailed discussion is needed in Goa Assembly to understand seriousness of diversion.
“Due to diversion, sweet water ratio will reduce and salinity in river will increase, which will take toll of agriculture, fishing, and entire flora and fauna. It will disturb the nature. Water deficit will increase and future generation would struggle for sweet water requirement,” he said.
He said besides presenting scientific studies in Supreme Court, Goa needs to declare Mhadei wild life sanctuary as a tiger reserve. Excluding settlement areas, the other areas should be part of the tiger reserve.
“Just because we are becoming wealthy, we can’t sacrifice our forest as for survival. We need water and oxygen and therefore Goans need to protect wild life, forest and hills,” he said.
The public meeting was organised by Ponda Citizens Group at Old Bus Stand Ponda. Present on the occasion were Architect K D Sadhle, former chairperson Shantaram Colvekar and Convenor of Ponda Citizen Group, Sunil Desai and Uday Dangi.
He said since 1973, there has been effort to divert Dudhsagar river, which was foiled at that time by then CM Shashikala Kakodkar.
