MARGAO: The Goa Forward President Vijai Sardesai has made the stand of the party clear on the ongoing Mhadei water provision talks.
The TCP minister has stated that they would detach from the Water Resource Ministry portfolio if the government agrees to give water beyond requirement of drinking water to the drought region of North Karnataka.
The TCP minister was addressing a press conference in collectorate on Thursday on the plan of sharing drinking water with Karnataka.
Agreeing on the fact that drinking water can be given on humanitarian grounds to drought hit areas, Vijai said, “WRD is with the Goa Forward in the present government and hence we have to make a statement as Karnataka has always been in dispute over water and has a bad track record.”
“If the Government of Goa agrees to go even a little above the required drinking water to Karnataka, we won’t want to be a part of that portfolio. We don’t want to be a party to sell out Goa,” he said.
“Under the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and then Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni, we have won the battle. However, now we can’t fall for humanitarian ground and dilute our victory for electoral gains by allowing diversion of water for reasons other than drinking water,” Vijai said.
“Political considerations are always there. Our ally is a national party, so, there are some pulls and pressures always. It may be there, but our stand for Goa and Goenkaponn says that Mhadei can’t be diverted or emptied into Karnataka to irrigate their plains. We will never detach from protecting our State’s ecological heritage,” the minister said.
On the control of the volume of water released, Vijai said, “If volume of water is being increased and used to irrigate the plains in North Karnataka, we will be forced to take the adverse step of giving up on WRD,” Vijai said.
Vijai also advised that if there is no plan of diversion of water, then, Karnataka has to break the canals. “Our stand will remain the same as the one we had in opposition,” Vijai said.
“The Mhadei commission always held that there was no issue on drinking water. Hence, it can be given, but we will go ahead with full caution, Vijai added.
