PANJIM: Water Resources Minister Felipe Nery Rodrigues on Tuesday said the government will reconstitute the Mhadei Cell comprising experienced and undoubted team of officers and lawyers.
When it was brought to his notice that environmentalists have expressed apprehensions over the government appointing engineers hailing from Karnataka’s Malaprabha basin to top posts in the Water Resources Department, Rodrigues said taking seriousness of the Mhadei River, the government has decided to appoint experienced and undoubted officers, including lawyers, to the post.
The government will take a conscious decision and not a hasty decision as regard to constituting the Mhadei Cell; he said and declined to disclose whether they will be Goan officers.
Whether the new Mhadei Cell will consist of Goan officers, Rodrigues said, “We are in the process of examining all the factors before constituting it. Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant is also minutely examining it and he will take a right and conscious decision.”
Herald in its issue date June 17, 2021 had reported of environmentalists expressing concerns over the appointment of engineers hailing from Malaprabha basin to top posts in the department as it could jeopardise Goa’s prospects before the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal and the Supreme Court.
Environmentalists had demanded appointment of officers having in-depth knowledge of the Mhadei river basin and not officers from the Malaprabha basin in Karnataka as it could have serious implications on Goa’s prospects.
A fortnight ago the government had promoted a WRD Assistant Engineer Anand T Kadolkar as executive engineer and given him additional charge of the Mhadei river basin.
Besides Kadolkar, WRD chief engineer P B Badami and additional chief engineer R R Yaragatti are originally natives of Malaprabha basin in Karnataka and serving in the Goa administration.
