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Mhadei verdict: BJP claims 'victory', Congress dubs ruling "unfortunate"
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SME Times News Bureau | 16 Aug, 2018
The Goa government on Tuesday claimed to have achieved a "major victory"
after the Mhadei Inter-state Water Disputes Tribunal in its ruling on
Tuesday, allotted 13.42 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) from the
Mhadei river basin to Karnataka, as against 36.55 TMC demanded by the
southern state.
The Congress in Goa, the leading opposition
party, however, called the verdict "very unfortunate" and urged the Goa
government to appeal against the Tribunal verdict, which a party
spokesperson alleged was manipulated by the ruling central BJP
leadership.
"It is a major victory for Goa," Additional
Solicitor General Atmaram Nadkarni, who is representing the state
government at the Tribunal in the inter-state water dispute, said in a
written statement issued here.
Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra
are currently battling a dispute over claim to water in the Mhadei river
basin. Mhadei also known as the Mandovi river, is known as a lifeline
in the northern parts of the state.
It originates in Karnataka
and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji in Goa, while briefly flowing
through the territory of Maharashtra.
While 78 per cent of the
basin of the Mhadei river lies in Goa, 42.79 per cent of the basin is
located in Karnataka and a small portion comes under Maharashtra.
Karnataka
had claimed 36.55 TMC water from the Mhadei basin, which included 1.50
TMC for irrigation and drinking water supply, 7.56 TMC for diversion to
the already depleted basin of the Malaprabha river through the
Kalsa-Bahnduri canal project, 14.97 for power generation, among other
claims.
In its ruling, the Tribunal headed by Justice J.M.
Panchal, ruled that only 13.42 TMC water would be allotted from the
Mhadei basin to Karnataka. While the Maharashtra government had demanded
7 TMC water, the Tribunal allotted it only 1.33 TMC.
Nadkarni
in his statement also said the Goa government did not have any objection
to Karnataka's claim for use of water from the basin for consumptive
purposes.
"Karnataka has been allocated only 5.5 TMC of water
which also includes 1.5 TMC of water for in-basin consumptive use for
which the state of Goa did not have any objection," Nadkarni said,
calling the decision a "major victory".
A state Water Resources
department official said that the 8.02 TMC water allotted to Karnataka
for power generation, would not have much impact on Goa's needs, because
the water would continue to flow downwards along the river into Goa.
The
lawyer's comment is incidentally contrary to repeated claims made by
Water Resources Minister Vinod Palienkar who had claimed that the Goa
government would not share "one drop of water" from the Mhadei river.
Palienkar was unavailable for comment.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar
Parrikar, who is currently undergoing treatment in a US hospital, has
expressed happiness at the verdict.
"I am happy that the Mhadei
Tribunal with its final verdict has done justice to Goa," Parrikar said
in a tweet soon after the verdict on Tuesday.
The Congress
meanwhile has alleged that the BJP-led coalition government "should not
waste a minute" in appealing against the verdict, calling the ruling
"very unfortunate".
"They should contest in the Supreme Court to
get justice. If this is not done, then people of Goa will have to come
on the roads to remind the government that this was their job and they
should do it as early as possible," former Chief Minister and Goa
Congress spokesperson Francisco Sardinha said.
Sardinha also
alleged that the members of the Tribunal were appointed by the Centre
and that the ruling was known before hand, because BJP national
President Amit Shah had promised the people of Karnataka of diverting
the Mhadei river water in the run-up to the polls in the southern state.
"But it was known, because last time at the time of elections
in Karnataka Amit Shah had promised them, if we come to power within so
many months, you would get water from Mhadei. So this Tribunal is in
their hands. They have appointed the members. but then it is not final,"
Sardinha said.
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