Kannada organisations have taken objection to the statements of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant about the neighbouring State not willing to share Mahadayi waters with Karnataka.
Mr. Sawant said in Panaji on Monday that “Goa will not let Karnataka take a drop of water from the Mahadayi”.
He also countered criticism by Congress leaders saying that the Goa government never instructed its officers to draft legal and other documents in such a way that they could favour Karnataka in the Mahadayi dispute.
These statements have come under fire from activists. “When the Mahadayi tribunal has granted us 36 tmcft of water, it is binding on both riparian parties. How can the Goa Chief Minister make such statements?’’ asked Ashok Chandaragi, convenor of the action committee of Kannada organisations. Goa may have gone to court against the tribunal order, but Mr. Sawant should not make such statements in public as the matter is sub judice , he said.
He also argued that the Goa government should not drag Karnataka into its internal politics. Opposition leaders there have accused the government of having tacitly helped Karnataka in water sharing by weakening its argument before the tribunal and other legal bodies. He [Mr. Sawant] has a duty to respond to them. But in saying so, he should not say things that affect Karnataka’s chances in its legal attempts to get Mahadayi waters, Srinivas Talukar of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike said.
KPCC working president Satish Jarkiholi has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the issue. BJP holds power at the Centre and in the two States. He should hold a meeting of the two Chief Ministers. He should instruct Goa to let Karnataka take up the Mahadayi project as it will help the arid areas here get water, Mr. Jarkiholi said.
