Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: According to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Mhadei Water Diversion Project will not be carried out with environmental clearance from the Center.
Additionally, he said that enough money has been set up to carry out all of the government-approved water diversion projects.
He was replying to inquiries made on Friday, the final day of the Karnataka State Legislature’s 10-day winter session.
He also discussed the region’s irrigation projects in his lengthy response.
He stated that because the Union government has not published a gazette notice, work on the Upper Krishna project’s third phase is currently at a standstill.
Additionally, the Mhadei Water Diversion Project’s implementation is delayed since the Center refuses to grant environmental clearance. In case the Centre gives the nod, the government was prepared to implement the project with immediate effect,” Siddaramaiah said.
“As Karnataka is facing grave water shortage due to weak monsoons, we are seeking time from the Prime Minister for a meeting where the response from the PMO is still awaited. Not a single penny from the Rs 5,300 promised by Union Minister Nirmala Sitaraman during the last budget by the Centre has been released to Karnataka,” he added
All the three riparian States have challenged the decision of the Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT) Award passed in August 2018. Besides this, the Goa government has filed a contempt petition against Karnataka for undertaking construction work at the disputed site without obtaining environmental clearances (ECs).
On July 10 this year, the Supreme Court had admitted SLP filed by the Goa government challenging the verdict of the Mhadei Tribunal granting Karnataka 13.42 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) of water for its Kalasa-Bhandura drinking water-cum-irrigation project.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday reiterated that Goa’s case was strong before the Supreme Court and that the Karnataka government had not yet submitted documents.