PANJIM: In the wake of
sporadic incidents of violence in the border areas of Karnataka following the interim
verdict on the Mhadei water dispute, Goa government as precautionary measure suspended
operations of its inter-state buses for two days.
“As a precaution we have
suspended the services of inter-state buses for two days to Karnataka. We are
not scared of any one, it is a precautionary measure for safety of people,”
Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said on Thursday.
He said we (Goans) are
educated and cultured people and abide by the judicial decision. “I don’t want
to comment and add fuel to the situation. They (Kannadigas) should know that it
is a judicial decision. If they want they can challenge it,” Parsekar said.
The Chief Minister said that
Goa won the Mhadei battle through legal means and not through any violence or
political pressures. “We followed the Constitution and had faith in the judiciary.
Now we need to respect its verdict,” he stated.
Wednesday and Thursday saw a
string of protests in northern Karnataka, along the Goa border, after the Mhadei
Water Disputes Tribunal rejected Karnataka’s plea to divert 7.56 TMC water from
the Mhadei river to the Malaprabha basin until final orders.
Karnataka had started work
to divert the water from the Mhadei, which flows into Goa, into the basin of
the Malaprabha river, which it claims is water deficit.
Earlier, Transport Minister
Ramakrishna Dhavalikar said the suspension of services is to Karnataka only. “We
have won the Mhadei dispute issue on Wednesday. The Karnataka government should
solve its problem. Though bus operators here are ready to go to Karnataka, I
have ordered them not to go there for two days. Right now there are no bus
services to Karnataka,” Dhavalikar said.
