Mahadayi river dispute: Oppn dares Goa CM to campaign in Karnataka bypolls

Opposition parties in BJP-ruled Goa have stepped up pressure on Chief Minister Pramod Sawant over the Union environment ministry’s ‘green signal’ to another BJP-ruled state, Karnataka to divert waters of the contentious interstate river Mahadayi and accused him of betraying the state’s interests.

The river is called Mhadei in Goa.

On Monday, chief of the Goa Forward Party Vijai Sardesai dared Sawant to campaign in Karnataka for the upcoming bypolls and declare that Goa will not share a drop of water.

“I challenge Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to campaign in the Karnataka bye-elections and publicly state that he wouldn’t allow a single drop of Mhadei water to be diverted,” Sardesai said.

Sardesai also taunted the chief minister for his lack of clout in Delhi saying that he was unable to convince the BJP’s central leadership about Goa’s case.

Sawant had led an all party delegation to meet Union Minister of Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar on November 4, in which the latter said that he was unaware of a letter his ministry wrote to the Karnataka government which noted that the scheme “doesn’t envisage creating new command area or providing water to suffering existing command areas for irrigation.” Javadekar said he would seek clarification from his ministry within ten days.

However, with that deadline having passed, opposition parties in Goa have accused Sawant of ‘lying’ to the people of the state and the BJP of using the issue to help bolster the party’s chances in the bye-elections in Karnataka scheduled for December 5.

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. 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.

The bypolls to the 15 seats hold the key to the survival of the Yeddiyurappa government. The BJP in Karnataka has inducted members from the Congress and the JD(S) who quit their respective parties and joined the BJP and have now been rewarded with party tickets. The diversion of the waters of the Mahadayi river is a key electoral plank for the party in Karnataka.

But the opposition in Goa is having none of it.

“It is a clear conspiracy of BJP in connivance with local leaders to give the clearance to Karnataka to woo the voters for the upcoming assembly bypolls. It is certain now that Goa is sold by BJP to win these bye-elections. Goa Chief Minister stands exposed as he has betrayed Goans to favour his party at the cost of Goa’s lifeline,” State Congress president Girish Chodankar said.

“It appears that the Chief Minister is aware of the situation and he is only buying time on the issue. Our protests will continue,” Chodankar said.

Sardesai too smelt a political motive.

“We had a doubt that this would not be resolved before December 5, because the party’s chances are hinged on this decision. If this is withdrawn then they will lose in Karnataka and if they lose in Karnataka then their government falls,” Sardesai said.

Sawant sought to defend himself saying that Javadekar had promised to withdraw the letter in ‘about’ ten days and not ‘exactly’ ten days. “You should not count the exact days; I have spoken to the Minister (Javadekar) this morning. He is yet to meet with the committee. After the meeting he will communicate in (around) two days time,” Sawant said.

Sawant’s defence has been made more difficult after one of his ministers - Michael Lobo -admitted that the environment ministry’s letter was granted for ‘political reasons.’

“Sometimes these types of letters are given for political reasons... people have to understand there are bypolls there, new elections could take place there, [the] political situation is not that good over there,” Lobo said.

This isn’t the first time that the BJP central leadership has attempted to leverage the interstate water dispute to its electoral advantage. Ahead of the elections in Karnataka in 2018, the then Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar wrote to Yeddiyurappa stating that the government “would not oppose” Karnataka’s demand for drinking water, an assurance that was contrary to the state’s stance before the Mahadayi river. Yeddiyurappa flaunted the letter during the campaign in a bid to drum up support for the party.