K'taka planting eco bomb through dams on Mahadayi: Parrikar

Goa CM says river water dispute can't be resolved on party lines

Stating that the Mahadayi water dispute issue could not be resolved with the neighbouring states on the party lines, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday accused Karnataka of planting an “ecological bomb” by building dams upstream.

Speaking in the Legislative Assembly on the water dispute involving Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra, Parrikar said Karnataka and Maharashtra have planned dams upstream the River Mahadayi, which meets Arabian Sea near Panaji. The Goa government has raised objections over the diversion, claiming that such an act would hamper the ecology of the coastal state. Karnataka plans to construct at least 7 dams and 3 hydroelectric projects by diverting the water to the River Malaprabha.

He stated that constructing dams upstream will increase the salinity in the rivers of Goa and also ecologically affect the areas up to the Western Ghats. “This is an ecological bomb that Karnataka is planting in the form of dams,” he told the House.

“We brought this issue before the Water Dispute Tribunal, where we proved that Karnataka is not telling the entire truth,” he said.

Parrikar said that 78% basin of the entire River Mahadayi lies in Goa. “And, out of all the river basins in Goa, 47% belongs to the Mahadayi,” he said.

“When it comes to water, Karnataka has problems with several states as the state is not interested in understanding how best the water can be used,” Parrikar said.
He said as far as Karnataka was concerned, the state was going to face the Assembly elections, hence there would be lot of one-upmanship in the state in the run up to the polls.

“There are certain issues that cannot be dealt with the governments based on the party lines. All members of the Legislative Assembly will have to come together, where there is interest of the state,” Parrikar said during a discussion on the issue during the Zero Hour.

He said he could try to speak to his Maharashtra counterpart and convince him on the issue. “But it is a dispute, so you cannot handle it on the party lines,” the chief minister said. Parrikar said he himself would not like to tackle the issue on the party lines as it is concerning the interests of Goa.

Though Parrikar said that the Goa government has designed certain strategies to tackle the water dispute, he refused to reveal them in public.