Kalasa-Banduri project: Goa to file objections with central ministries

Panaji, March 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Goa government will file objections with the Central government ministries to prevent Karnataka from obtaining permissions to construct the Kalasa-Banduri water diversion project across the Mhadei river, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday.

"We will file written objections with the Central ministries in two to three days," Sawant told reporters here.

The Chief Minister said that the objections would be filed with the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests and the Jal Shakti Ministry.

The assurance came a day after the Goa government failed to obtain a stay from the Supreme Court on Karnataka's efforts to obtain necessary permissions for going ahead with the water diversion project in Karnataka, which the Goa government has objected to.

While disposing the appeal filed by the Goa government on Monday, the apex court had directed Karnataka to obtain mandated permissions required to construct the water diversion project and prepare a detailed project report.

An inter-state water disputes tribunal, after hearing the over two-decade-old Mhadei river water sharing dispute between Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra, had in August 2018 allotted 13.42 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) (including 3.9 TMC for diversion into the depleted Malaprabha river basin) to Karnataka and 1.33 TMC to Maharashtra.

Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra governments have challenged several provisions of the award.

Goa has claimed that construction of the Kalasa-Banduri dam across the river to divert water from the Mhadei basin to the basin of the Malaprabha river in Karnataka would cause "ecological devastation" in Goa.

Source: IANS