Mahadayi issue crops up again in poll-bound Goa

Meanwhile, Goa has also filed two petitions against Karnataka for illegally diverting water from the Mahadayi river basin

The Mahadayi water dispute has reared its head again in poll-bound Goa.

The Trinamool Congress on Friday charged Chief Minister Pramod Sawant with striking a deal with the Karnataka government over the Mahadayi issue, shortchanging Goa's interests in the ongoing water-sharing dispute between the two states.

Addressing a press conference in Panaji, TMC leader and Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra also said that despite Karnataka being at the receiving end of the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal, Karnataka was able to divert Mahadayi water into the Malaprabha basin, because of the deal struck by Sawant with Karnataka.

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"Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has struck a deal with Karnataka, which is why Karnataka has been able to divert the water from the Mahadayi basin to the Malaprabha river," Moitra told a press conference in Panaji.

"Karnataka had been awarded a paltry 7.5 TMC of water. When (former CM Manohar Parrikar) Parrikar died, Sawant, upon becoming the Chief Minister, immediately notified this award and Karnataka started getting much more water than they were supposed to. Karnataka senior leaders even came to Delhi and said, we have done a deal with Mr Sawant, there is no problem," Moitra claimed, questioning how the state government had given a no-objection certificate to Karnataka to divert the water, especially when a special leave petition was pending with the Supreme Court of India.

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"Despite winning, most of the water of the basin has been diverted to Karnataka and Goa has been burning. Today, people of Goa are not getting their due share because Mr Sawant struck a deal with Karnataka," Moitra said.

Apart from an SLP challenging the contents of the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal's award, the Goa government has also filed two other contempt petitions against Karnataka for illegally diverting water from the Mahadayi river basin.

The state government has also formed a special cell to oversee affairs related to the river dispute.

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