Just two days after Parrikar proposed an out-of-court settlement on the contentious issue of sharing River Mhadei’s waters, Parsekar bluntly rejected the move.
Speaking to media persons after the cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister said he is not in favour of an out-of-court settlement on the Mhadei dispute, considering that the matter before the Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal is in favour of Goa. “I am not in favour of outside court settlement. If the Defence Minister wants to take up the matter, I have no issue but I am not in favour,” Parsekar said.
Parrikar who was in Dharwad on Wednesday to inaugurate an international conference on ‘Enabling Make in India’ has assured Kalsa-Bandura Horata Samanvaya Samiti to solve the issue outside the tribunal through bilateral talks.
“He (Parrikar) was in Goa yesterday (Thursday). We even had a meeting but there was not a single word from him on the issue,” Parsekar said, reiterating that the government will not go for any out of court settlement.
The Chief Minister said the matter is pending before the tribunal and the State will have to await the verdict before taking any decision. “Let the tribunal decide, we will follow their order,” he said.
Karnataka’s plan to divert 7 TMC of water from Mhadei river to Malprabha river. After building the Kalsa-Bandura canals from Kankumbi to divert the water in violation of court orders, Karnataka is now desperately seeking an out-of-court settlement over the issue.
Goa has made a strong case before the tribunal opposing Karnataka’s move to divert water. The State has said any water diversion will have a major impact on flora and fauna and on the bio-diversity.
Meanwhile, the Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan has condemned the assurance of Parrikar alleging it as ‘U-turn’.
