PANJIM: Environmentalists on Wednesday expressed apprehensions that the government appointing engineers hailing from the Malaprabha basin to top posts in the Water Resources Department (WRD) could jeopardise Goa’s prospects before the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal and the Supreme Court.
What has annoyed environmentalists is the promotion of an assistant engineer as executive engineer and giving him additional charge of the Mhadei river basin.
Currently WRD chief engineer P B Badami, additional chief engineer R R Yaragatti and A T Kadolkar are originally residents of Malaprabha basin in Karnataka and serving in the Goa administration.
Environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar, spearheading the Mhadei Bachao Andolan, has expressed fears over the government preferring the appointment of officers hailing from neighbouring Karnataka and giving them charge of the Mhadei basin.
“Goa’s contempt pleas are before the Mhadei Disputes Tribunal and also in Supreme Court, while the State has also filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the Tribunal’s final award. These pleas are at a crucial stage and in such a situation government should have appointed an officer having in-depth knowledge of Mhadei river basin and not officers from the Malaprabha basin,” Kerkar said, adding that it could have serious implications on Goa’s prospects.
Kerkar also recalled that in the past valuable information from Goa on the Mhadei was leaked to Karnataka and the government had transferred all powers of the then WRD chief engineer to the then additional chief engineer, on pretext that the chief engineer had gone abroad during crucial developments on Mhadei issue.
