House panel to visit Mhadei diversion sites

Panaji: The Mhadei House Committee, which met on Wednesday after one-and-a-half years, decided that it would seek permission from Karnataka to visit the sites where work for diversion of the Mhadei into Karnataka’s Malaprabha basin is suspected to be carried out. Goa’s water resources minister Subhash Shirodkar said WRD chief engineer Pramod Badami and superintending engineer Dilip Naik had recently visited the sites and confirmed that no diversion work is presently being carried out by Karnataka.

He also said that Goa’s petition before the Supreme Court is expected to come up for hearing on Jan 20.

“We principally accept that there are two project sites by Karnataka. Still, we have to visit these with the seven-member Prawah committee. The Prawah has already visited all the sites where we suspect Karnataka is carrying out water diversion work. On Wednesday, we gave a presentation to the house committee on the sites visited. Its members said they also want to visit these areas,” said Shirodkar.

He further said Goa has already put forth its objections against Karnataka’s actions before the Prawah committee. “We have also put up our issues before the court. But hearings could not take place. We are fighting on three fronts — before the Prawah committee, on the political level, and in the courts. Efforts are on by Karnataka to divert water since 2010,” said Shirodkar.

The minister also said some were coming up with reports just before the assembly session about the house committee strategically claiming that water diversion work is on. He maintained that WRD engineers have been monitoring the situation efficiently, and that Goa has to wait its turn in the Supreme Court and cannot bulldoze its case.

About the lawyers’ bills, Shirodkar said, “We cannot hold back because of the expenses. We have to have our lawyers there during the hearings and have to pay for their accommodation.”