The Goa government has rejected the Karnataka government’s offer of out-of-court settlement of the inter-state Mahadayi river water dispute and accused it of playing dirty tricks on the issue.
“There will be no compromise or out-of-court settlement on Mahadayi case with Karnataka. It is the official stand of my department and Govt of Goa (sic),” Goa Water Resources Minister Vinod Palyekar said in a statement dated July 13.
Palyekar has charged the Karnataka government with ‘playing dirty tricks from behind.’ Karnataka, on one hand, is asking for out-of-court settlement and writing to our chief minister and on other hand they are playing dirty tricks from behind. Karnataka’s witness has been well exposed in Tribunal at New Delhi (sic),” he stated.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had recently written a letter to Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, seeking his consent to organise a meeting for resolving the Mahadayi water dispute amicably through talks. Siddaramaiah had also informed Parrikar that his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis has given his consent in this regard. Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office, however, said the Goa government has not officially communicated its stand on the issue.
Published 18 July 2017, 20:47 IST