Goa Guv meets PM, lobbies against Kalasa-Banduri plans

Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to push for Goa’s case against the Union MoEF’s ministry green nod to Karnataka’s Kalasa-Banduri water diversion project across the Mahadayi river, which Goa has objected to.

A statement issued by the Goa government’s Information and Publicity department on Friday said that the Prime Minister has given an assurance that the issue would be resolved shortly.

“Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik called on PM Narendra Modi during his visit to New Delhi and took up the issue of Mahadayi water dispute, especially the environmental clearance given to Kalasa-Banduri water project of Karnataka by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,” the statement said.

“Governor emphasised upon the importance of Mahadayi water to the State of Goa, it being the lifeline of the people of Goa. The Prime Minister gave due assurance to the Governor that the issue will be resolved shortly,” the statement also said, adding that following the meeting with Modi, Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar also telephonically conveyed to Malik that a “positive solution” would be taken in a day or two.

The Governor’s meeting with Modi comes two days before the Goa Congress is scheduled to hold a dharna at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar grounds to protest against the central government’s “injustice” to Goa over the Mahadayi (Mhadei in Goa) water diversion issue.

In October, two months ahead of the crucial Karnataka assembly bypolls, the MoEF had given a green nod to the Kalasa-Banduri project, which the Goa government, as well as parties across political barriers, have expressed the Opposition to.

An all-party delegation from Goa subsequently met Javadekar, who on two occasions had requested more time to study the demands made by Goa vis-a-vis the controversial project, which Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has claimed would cause “ecological devastation” in Goa.