PANJIM: Goa’s battle for Mhadei’s waters turned into a heated exchange between the ruling party, Mhadei activists, and the opposition at Herald TV’s Point Counterpoint show with panelists Nirmala Sawant and Professor Prajal Sakhardande of the Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan, Tulio D’Souza of the Congress and Giriraj Pai Vernekar of the BJP.
Sawant’s critical salvo offered a light at the end of the tunnel when she said, “The copies of the DPRs (for construction of canals on Kalasa and Bandura by diverting Mhadei waters from Goa) of any project proposed in the river basin for which no tribunal award or inter-State
agreement exists cannot be given compliance then how were they given the compliance?
Sawant also said that Karnataka’s continuous violations in the forest area for construction at Kalasa were not highlighted by Goa.
Giriraj Pai Vernekar of the BJP however opined that all was not lost and Karnataka would still not have its way. He said, “And even if the order of CWC comes it changes nothing, they still need EC clearance. We will demand that Mhadei Water Management Authority be established. Some of the MLAs from Karnataka have vowed to change their names if they fail to complete the project. I think they should prepare themselves to change their names because we as a State and a party are fully committed to saving Mhadei.”
Why is Karnataka not taking water from the Bennihalla River?
Nirmala Sawant pertinently asked if Karnataka want the water for drinking, why are they not taking it from Bennihalla River, which is 48 kms from Dharwad, thrice as big as Mhadei?
She said that Government has not used all this data in its defence. That is when we doubt the intentions of the Government as they are so silent and laid back. When the Rhine River in Europe was polluted, States of 9 countries came together and the pollutants were removed. If the national leaders of those many countries come together, why not two States from the same country come together?
Work on the Kalasa canal was done violating the Forest Conservation Act.
Sawant said that the project lies in the highly eco-sensitive Western Ghat area and a team of the officers carried out a site inspection in a time-bound manner to ascertain whether any project work has been done in the forest area. The work was done violating The Forest Conservation Act 1980. The Government should have brought this to the notice of the court. She said that the “Goa government should have told the Tribunal that as per the verdict of Supreme Court, the Kalasa cannot be touched. They would not have allocated the water then. The government on one side is saying that the environment needs to be protected and on the other, doing something else.
If Goa claimed it had a watertight case, then why did Goa not get justice – Professor Prajal Sakhardande
Prajal Sakhardande, historian and academic who has been campaigning for Goa’s rights on the Mhadei questioned the Goa government’s claim of having a watertight case.
“The honourable AG has been on record saying that we have a water-tight case in this matter then why have we fallen short in getting justice? The Goa Government, in 2017 has given a letter stating that Goa will not object to the drinking water needs of Karnataka. But does Karnataka really need drinking water? And has Karnataka ever extended an olive branch to us? The CM should tell us when is he meeting the PM to reverse the approval that is given to the DPR.
Interestingly Vernekar said, “At the end, they will fight for Karnataka the way we are fighting for Goa.” He stated, “Somewhere I feel the solution will come from the Central government or the court. CWC order on the ground means nothing unless they get all the other approvals. We will fight tooth and nail with all the provisions we have.”
Tulio D Souza of the Congress recalled an interesting development which indicated the Centre’s push for Karnataka’s needs over Goa’s. On December 18, 2019 the MoEFCC (Ministry of Environment) wrote to Karnataka that the environment clearance was given by the ministry to this project. On October 17 it was to be kept in abeyance till all connected legal disputes were resolved. On December 24, Union minister Prakash Javadekar wrote Basavraj Bommai the then minister for home affairs and cooperation of Karnataka (and present Chief Minister) saying that the Government of India has not kept in abeyance and Karnataka can start the work.
Giriraj Vernekar in the government’s defence said, “The award of 3.9 tmc that was received we welcomed it but at that time Karnataka was demanding ten times more. In 2019, we went to court, in 2020, we filed contempt that Karnataka is not stopping the work. Then we went to Tribunal again to clarify whether Karnataka was allowed to use the 3.9 tmc or whether to divert it. The Government is not saying that the approval given to the DPR is right, but we have been saying this all along that let’s go to the Central government as one, as Goans.”
