Former Goa RSS chief to start puja campaign to woo Gods over Mahadayi

Frustrated by the lack of initiative taken by the BJP-led government to aggressively address Goa's concerns in the ongoing dispute with Karnataka over the waters of the Mahadayi (Mhadei in Goa) river, former state RSS chief Subhash Velingkar will soon kick-start a mega 'puja abhiyaan' perhaps in order of curry favor with the Gods!

The Mahadayi Mata puja abhiyaan, according to Velingkar, who is currently at loggerheads with the ruling BJP-led coalition in Goa, will spread 300 villages which will be covered with a network of 150 NGOs across the state.

"It is a nonpolitical campaign. Everyone participating in it will take a pledge that the Mahadayi river is our mother and we will safeguard its interests," Velingkar told Deccan Herald.

The campaign which will kick off next week will begin with a puja at the historic Satteri temple in Surla, along the Goa-Karnataka border, with a kalash of water drawn from the point of origin of the Mahadayi river.

"The Mahadayi has nine tributaries. Water from these tributaries will be added to the kalash which will then be taken to temples 300 villages across Goa, where a ceremony will be performed by 108 married couples in every area," Velingkar said, adding that the series of ceremonies, would not only create an awareness about the issue but also help invoke the Gods to Goa's cause in the ongoing dispute.

"There are efforts to divert the river with the help of the Central Government and Goa government is complicit in these efforts. So is the Chief Minister. Mahadayi water has already been diverted," Velingkar also said.

Goa and Karnataka are already battling out its dispute over the sharing of the Mahadayi river in the Supreme Court after both parties expressed reservations about the award given by the Mahadayi inter-state water dispute tribunal last year.

The Opposition, which includes the Goa Suraksha Manch headed by Velingkar, has also accused the Prakash Javadekar-led Union Ministry of Environment and Forests of trying to favor Karnataka on the issue and the Pramod Sawant-led Goa government of not doing enough to protect Goa's interests.

The Mahadayi river also known as the Mandovi or Mhadei in Goa originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea near Panaji in Goa, while briefly flowing through Maharashtra.