Team Herald
PANJIM: The Supreme Court on Monday said it would first wait till the Goa Chief Wild Life Warden decides on Karnataka’s reply to Goa’s show cause notice, before deciding to restrain Karnataka from attempting to divert Mhadei waters.
Advocate General Devidas Pangam said, “The Apex Court held that it cannot interfere in the matter as it is sub-judice before the Goa Chief Wildlife Warden and that any construction that is proposed by Karnataka will be subject to his orders. The Chief Wildlife Warden will decide whether Karnataka can be allowed to divert the water of Mhadei from the sanctuary under Section 29 of the Wild Life Protection Act.”
The Goa Chief Wildlife Warden had issued a show cause notice to Karnataka for violation of Section 29 of the Wild Life Protection Act by way of diverting the water from Kalasa and Bandura tributaries, the prime source of water to Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary.
During the hearing, Goa’s senior counsel Adv Darius Khambata challenged the Central Water Commission (CWC) approval granted to the Kalasa-Bandura Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted by Karnataka, the bench of Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice M M Sundaresh emphatically held that the matter is sub-judice before the Goa Chief Wildlife Warden and that any construction that is proposed by the State of Karnataka will be subject to Chief Wildlife Warden order.
At the same time, Karnataka’s counsel Adv Shyam Divan told the Court that the question of restraining them does not arise since it has been issued a show cause notice and that Karnataka will not carry out any construction work till it obtains all mandatory clearances.
