Goa Opposition disrupts assembly proceedings over Mahadayi river dispute

Opposition parties in Goa disrupted proceedings in the legislative assembly on Tuesday after Speaker Rajesh Patnekar disallowed an adjournment motion in a bid to force the government to reply on the Mahadayi river water sharing issue with Karnataka.

The Speaker instead urged opposition members to instead move a calling attention motion or other instruments to demand a discussion on the issue.

But opposition members led by Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat (Congress) and Goa Forward Party’s Vijai Sardesai began sloganeering and holding placards in the assembly even as the ruling party MLAs attempted to force through the proceedings.

“The Governor had earlier claimed that Goa was cheated on the Mahadayi issue. We wanted to know who has cheated Goa. Today it has become clear who has cheated Goa on the Mahadayi issue,” Vijai Sardesai told reporters after the session was adjourned.

“What is happening in JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi) can happen tomorrow in the assembly here. The symptoms are very much the same. It is dadagiri. What they (treasury benches) say becomes law... They have the numbers,” Sardesai said.

“On the first day we ten MLAs moved an adjournment motion on a very important and life threatening issue. We hoped that all the MLAs, who claimed to be supporters of the cause, would support the motion and the motion would be admitted and that there would be a discussion. But it was disallowed forcing us to do what we did,” Kamat said.

The opposition had moved a joint motion on the Mahadayi issue “to discuss the approval/NOC given to Karnataka by the Union Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change for taking up the so called drinking water project on River Mhadei” which they said will result in an increase in salinity of rivers in Goa and result in adverse effects on ecology, agriculture, khazan land and drinking water in the state”.

Earlier in his speech, Governor Satya Pal Malik said the “government is conscious about Mhadei an issue which affects every Goan.”

“Mhadei water dispute between Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa is about sharing water of interstate river Mahadayi. Efforts of my government is to prevent water diversion outside the river basin. The tribunal which was appointed in November 2010 gave its award on 14/08/2018. Goa requested for a clarification from the tribunal unders section 5(3) of the ISWD Act 1956. Goa has also filed an SLP in the Supreme court praying for review of the tribunal award besides filing necessary contempt proceedings before the Supreme Court,” Malik said.

The opposition has blamed the government for failing to impress upon the Union environment ministry to withdraw the ‘green signal’ to Karnataka informing them that the project does not require an environmental clearance.

Goa is battling a 15-year dispute with Karnataka and Maharashtra and opposes Karnataka’s demand to divert the river to the east flowing Malaprabha river.

The massive project envisages the diversion of west flowing streams in the Mahadayi basin to the allegedly water deficit Malaprabha basin by construction of dams across the Haltara, Kalasa and Banduri streams.