Team coming to study impact of Mhadei river

TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The Supreme Court appointed Mhadei Water Tribunal comprising 25 members from Karnataka and Maharashtra will be visiting Goa on Thursday to study the impact of the Mhadhei river on agriculture and horticulture, as it wends its way to the sea.
The team is scheduled to visit Mormugao Port Trust, Virdhi and Anjunem dams, Opa plant, Mhadei basin and Cumbarjua canal and check on impact of the Mhadei river when it flows through the state.
In this context local activists allege that that though Karnataka is taking the issue seriously the state government is not serious about defending the case and is sending only junior advocates before the tribunal.
Karnataka is planning to divert water from the Mhadei basin to the Malaprabha basin arguing that it needs this water to meet drinking water requirements of Hubli and Bailhongal. Karnataka had started diverting the water from Mhadei river in 2006.
The Union Ministry of Water Resources notified the Mhadei Water Dispute Act 1956 and referred the matter to the tribunal after the Goa government approached the Supreme Court.
Officials said that the facts would be presented before the Supreme Court after the visit.  In 2012, the state government has approached the Supreme Court asking that the Centre allow the functioning of the tribunal constituted to settle the Mhadei water dispute between Goa and Karnataka even though in November 2010, the Union government had issued a notification on the appointment of a tribunal.
After Karnataka started diverting the water, Goa had written to the Centre in July 2002 under Section 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956, seeking the constitution of the tribunal. Under the Act, the Centre is required to constitute a tribunal if a water dispute arises between states and cannot be settled by negotiation.
The Mhadei river has a length of 77 km. Out of this 56 km lies in Goa and 29 km in Karnataka. But it originates from a cluster of 30 springs at Bhimgad in the Western Ghats in the Belgaum district of Karnataka.  While 1,580 square kilometres of catchment area lies in Goa, 2032 sq km of the river’s catchment area lie in Karnataka.