Goa seeks stay on SC order on Karnataka to divert water from Mahadayi river

The Goa government will file a petition in the Supreme Court next week seeking a stay on granting of any permissions to the Karnataka government required to divert water from the Mahadayi river through the Kalasa-Bhandura canal, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Friday.

Faced with criticism for letting Goa’s interests down in the ongoing dispute with Karnataka over the ongoing dispute over waters of the Mahadayi river, the Goa BJP on Friday also insisted, that allowing the notification of the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal award did not mean Karnataka was permitted to divert the river water.

“We will be filing a stay application within three-four days before the Supreme Court to prevent Karnataka from obtaining any permissions required for diversion of water from the Mahadayi river,” Sawant told reporters at the State Secretariat.

The state BJP also put up a brave face saying, the notification of the MWDT award was not the end of the story for Goa.

“Notification of the award does not mean Karnataka has been permitted to divert the water to use the water... After notification, there are other procedures involved, they will need to have an EIA,” Bharatiya Janata Party Goa general secretary Narendra Sawaikar told a press conference in Panaji on Friday.

“Notification is a part of the procedure that is why it has come up. Just because the notification has been allowed and Karnataka and some opposition leaders have been jumping with joy, it does not mean that Karnataka has won,” Sawaikar said.

“Until the SC does not deliver its judgment on the matter, we do not believe the Mhadei matter has been resolved,” he also said.

The BJP in Goa is on the backfoot over the Mahadayi issue, with the Opposition accusing the ruling party of either not doing enough or compromising the interests of Goa in favour of the party’s political interests.

Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat also called February 20 a ‘Black Day’, after the Supreme Court of India allowed notification of the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal award, whose provisions have been challenged by both governments.

Sawaikar, however, insisted, that since the Supreme Court on Thursday had admitted Goa’s appeal against the MWDT award, coastal state’s battle for its rightful share of the Mahadayi river water would continue.