PANJIM: The Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan (MBA) convenor Nirmala Sawant on Monday said that with Supreme Court order of 2009, Goa officers can visit River Mhadei site anytime and Karnataka cannot stop them.
Addressing a press conference at Panjim, Sawant said, “There was an order passed by the three-member Supreme Court Bench on February 20, 2009 which should be used by the members of PRAWAH. The PRAWAH members or the Goa government must use this order and tell the Karnataka government officials that we can definitely visit the site. We are confident that we are going to win the Mhadei battle because of this order.”
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Sawant said that the concerned PRAWAH officials, who are holding meetings, should know about this Apex Court order delivered following a report submitted by then High Empowered Committee. Had they been aware of the order, the Karnataka would not have been stopped from visiting the sites in the neighbouring State.”
According to Sawant, even some of the orders have been handed over to the State government officials. Ultimately, it is the State which suffers. Even journalists can visit the site and nobody can prevent them from visiting. “We are ready to support the government. We do not want to be the members but the help should be taken by the government. Government is trying to resolve the issue in its own way,” she said.
It does not want to go other way round,” the MBA convenor said.
”We have informed the government but it was taken casually. Now it is the crucial time. We can hit them (Karnataka) with this order,” she said.
MBA counsel Adv Bhavani Shankar Gadnis said that the 2009 Supreme Court should be shown to PRAWAH member as nobody can stop from visiting the Mhadei site. He said that it is because of another Supreme Court order dated 2017, Karnataka is unable to go ahead with the project. The Karnataka had given an undertaking to the Supreme Court that it will not ahead with the dam work till they obtain Environmental Clearance (EC) from the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), New Delhi. The Karnataka government is desperately trying to obtain permissions from the MoEF, he added.
