Goa snubs Karnataka, says won’t budge an inch on Mahadayi

BENGALURU/PANAJI: Three days after chief minister BS Yediyurappa announced he was scheduled to meet his Goa counterpart Pramod Sawant for talks for an out-of-court negotiation of the Mahadayi water dispute, the latter on Thursday denied the event had been scheduled.
“I’m not scheduled to meet anyone and there is no such programme. We’re not ready to make even the smallest compromise on the Mahadayi water sharing dispute which is currently pending in the Supreme Court,’’ Sawant told reporters in Goa.
Sawant issued the clarification following reports that Yediyurappa would fly to Goa on Saturday and hold talks with Sawant on the dispute.“The Goa government is firm on its stand that Mahadayi river water should not be allowed to be diverted by Karnataka,’’ he added
On Monday, Union minister Pralhad Joshi visited Goa and said chief ministers of Karnataka and Goa should resolve the dispute.
The Congress party in Goa later opposed any settlement with Karnataka. Opposition leader in Goa assembly Digambar Kamat vehemently opposed Sawant’s decision to negotiate with Karnataka claiming there’s no scope for negotiation since the matter is before the apex court.
RIVER ROW
Mahadayi or Mandovi
Mahadayi, also known as Mandovi in Goa, originates in Karnataka and flows for around 35km in the state. It has a basin area of 2,032sqkm, of which 375sqkm lies in Karnataka, 77sqkm in Maharashtra and 1,580sqkm in Goa. At 75% dependability, the quantum of water has been estimated at 188 thousand million cubic (tmc) feet
The history
Mahadayi water diversion was first planned in 1970 by engineer SG Balekundri. The plan was to feed Malaprabha and store the water in Navilatirtha dam, Dharwad. Trouble began in1980s when Karnataka decided to undertake Kalasa-Banduri Nala project. Subsequent efforts by the Centre to find a way out by getting CMs of the three states to engage in negotiations failed. In 2006, Goa approached the Supreme Court, seeking constitution of a tribunal. Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal was formed by the Centre on August 21, 2013, and was told to submit its report in three years but it was delivered only in August 2018
Tribunal verdict, direction to set up authority
The tribunal awarded Karnataka 13.4tmc ft of water as against its demand for 36tmc ft. The verdict granted 1.5tmc ft of water for in-basin consumptive use for drinking and irrigation within Mahadayi basin, along with evaporation losses from reservoir(s) through the proposed Mahadayi hydroelectric project. Karnataka was also granted 2.2tmc ft of water at the proposed Banduri dam and 1.7tmc ft at the proposed Kalasa dam. Goa, which had opposed Karnataka’s demand, was allocated around 24tmc ft and Maharashtra 1.3tmc ft. The tribunal directed the Centre to form Mahadayi Water Management Authority to implement the report
Present controversy
Karnataka wants to divert water from its contribution to Mahadayi basin to Malaprabha dam to address water shortage in Hubballi-Dharwad and about 180 villages. After approval from the water resources ministry in 2002, Karnataka announced plans to build two barrages on Mahadayi’s tributaries, Kalasa and Banduri. Goa, however, objected to the plan
Goa’s concerns
Goa believes the proposed water diversion by Karnataka would not only affect water needs of the people but also impact the sensitive ecology of Western Ghats. Forty-three per cent of Goa’s drinking water needs are met by Mahadayi and any change in the river system will have an effect
Prolonged protest
The indefinite agitation seeking diversion of Mahadayi water to help farmers of four districts has been going on for three years at Nargund in Gadag district. Under the aegis of Raitha Sene and Mahadayi Kalasa Banduri Nala Horata Samanvaya Samiti, farmers continue to take turns to stage sit-ins under the pandal erected off Hubballi-Vijayapura national highway. It was on July 16, 2015, that the state president of Raitha Sene, Viresh Sobaradmath, with the sole purpose of fighting for the cause, launched an indefinite protest along with farmers of Malaprabha Command Area seeking an early resolution to the decades-old issue of sharing Mahadayi water through Kalasa-Banduri Nala project
By Manu Aiyappa