Goemkarponn Desk
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that his state and Goa will put up a joint fight to protect Mhadei from being diverted by Karnataka.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Goa WRD Minister Subhash Shirodkar attended the Interstate Control Board of Tillari Irrigation Project meeting.
“Goa and Maharashtra will fight the Mhadei issue together against Karnataka as Goa and Maharashtra’s relation is like that of brothers,” said Shinde
He further said that the meeting has been taking place after a gap of 13 years and various issues were discussed.
Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka are involved in an inter state dispute over Mhadei river water sharing. Karnataka has already got approval for Diversion of Mhadei water through kalsa Bhandura drinking water project.
Tillari Irrigation Project, a joint venture of Goa and Maharashtra government, provides water supply for drinking and agriculture purpose to Goa.
The project was conceived to irrigate 23,654 ha of land that includes 16,978 in Goa and 6,676 in Maharashtra.
Both the Goa and Karnataka governments have, for very different reasons, challenged the final award granted by the Mahadayi Interstate Water Disputes Tribunal which in a verdict in August 2018 granted Karnataka a total of 13.42 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water out of their demand from their total claims of 36.558 TMC of water.
Goa has approached the Supreme Court arguing that Karnataka shouldn’t be allowed to divert any water owing to the fact that the Mahadayi river is a water deficient river, and that its uninterrupted flow was vital for the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary that is bordering with Karnataka.
On the other hand, Karnataka took up the case in SC arguing that the tribunal erred in granting it only 13.42 tmc of water.
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