Since Mr. Amit Shah is a good politician, he avoided speaking about the diversion of Mhadei’s waters from Goa, because in his mind the issue is “already settled”. He has already thanked and praised the Karnataka government for getting the Goa government to give consent to the diversion of its waters for the sake of Karnataka’s needs.
But as a wise politician, he is sure to come up with a “solution” from the Goa point of view before the Lok Sabha elections of 2024 since he has appealed to the voters of Goa to give BJP both seats and not “half and half”.
Goan ministers and politicians, who are also very wise have promised Goans that they will never compromise on the issue of Mhadei, so perhaps they have already worked out a solution.
But notwithstanding the above, wise and educated Goans will have to think if they need or have to depend on an outsider to give them a solution to protecting their Mother Mhadei, their river, and their lifeline. They know of the destruction to Goa’s ecology, environment, and way of life if Mhadei is threatened in any way, especially with the depletion of its waters due to the impending diversion to Karnataka.
What stares at them is a massive drinking water shortage in 194 villages, the destruction of 43,500 hectares of forest land, the disastrous impact on marine life due to the rise in the salinity of the river, the destruction of fish species like Chonok, and many more dangers.
Mhadei’s diversion will be both way of life and livelihood threatening since it will leave our soil depleted of nourishment leading to long-term crop and forest damage.
The damage that stares at us is beyond politics and elections, and that is what right-thinking Goans surely understand and since they do, they will understand the need to be the protectors of their own soil.
