Goa govt to approach SC seeking interim stay on Karnataka’s Mahadayi water diversion project

While Goa has approached the Supreme Court arguing that Karnataka shouldn’t be allowed to divert any water owing to the fact that the Mahadayi river is a water-deficient river, Karnataka is before the Supreme Court arguing that the tribunal erred in granting it only 13.42 tmc of water.

The Goa government will approach the Supreme Court for an interim stay seeking to restrain Karnataka from going ahead with the Kalasa Banduri water diversion project across the River Mahadayi that is the subject of a long-standing interstate water dispute between Goa and Karnataka.

The Opposition in Goa called the Supreme Court’s decision to allow for the notification of the tribunal’s award as a ‘black day’ for the state. (ANI File Photo)

Both the Goa and Karnataka governments have, for very different reasons, challenged the final award granted by the Mahadayi Interstate Water Disputes Tribunal which in a verdict in August 2018 granted Karnataka a total of 13.42 Thousand Million Cubic Feet (TMC) of water out of their demand from their total claims of 36.558 TMC of water.

While Goa has approached the Supreme Court arguing that Karnataka shouldn’t be allowed to divert any water owing to the fact that the Mahadayi river is a water-deficient river, Karnataka is before the Supreme Court arguing that the tribunal erred in granting it only 13.42 tmc of water.

While agreeing to hear the plea across three days in July, the Supreme Court agreed with Karnataka’s contention that the tribunal’s award will have to be notified before it can be challenged.

The decision to notify the tribunal’s award sparked celebrations in Karnataka, which has now claimed that with the notification, a decade-old project can finally go ahead.

“Within 3-4 days we are filing a stay application before the Supreme Court so that they are not given any permissions. We will also bring before the Supreme Court that despite the dispute being pending they have already diverted the water,” Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said.

The Opposition in Goa called the Supreme Court’s decision to allow for the notification of the tribunal’s award as a ‘black day’ for Goa.

“’Black Day in Goa’ as Goa Govt remains silent on Hon’ble Supreme Courts decision to notify the award of Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal diverting water from our Lifeline Mother Mhadei to Karnataka. We will now intensify people’s agitation against the insensitive Government,” Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat tweeted.

The massive project envisages the diversion of west-flowing streams in the Western Ghats close to the source of Goa’s Mandovi River to the east-flowing Malaprabha basin by the construction of dams across the Haltara, Kalasa and Banduri streams. The project proposes to divert 7.56 TMC of water during monsoon season through Inter connecting gravity canals for crossing the ridges at the cost of ₹840.52 crore.