Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday welcomed the Union Jal Shakti Ministry's decision to appoint a central agency to examine the issue of salinity of the Mahadayi river, saying the move would delay work at Karnataka's Kalasa-Banduri project
"Salinity is one of the core issues raised by Goa before Mahadayi Tribunal and the Supreme court. The central Government's decision to appoint National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, to study the salinity issue with respect to Mhadei, is a welcome move," Sawant tweeted late on Sunday.
"This study will help us in our case. Till then, Karnataka's project will not be cleared," Sawant also said.
On July 29, in a letter to the Goa Chief Minister Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had said that the Roorkee-based agency had been appointed to examine the salinity issue, a fear raised by the state government in its case against the Kalasa-Banduri project across the Mahadayi (also called Mhadei in Goa).
Shekhawat had also said that Karnataka's detailed plans regarding the water diversion project were being processed by his Ministry.