Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: Union Cabinet Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) Bhupendra Yadav said that presently the Mhadei issue is at state level and when it comes before his ministry expert opinion will be taken before taking any decision.
“Presently the Mhadei issue is at state level and when it comes before his ministry expert opinion will be taken before taking any decision,”
He further said that he will study the matter first before speaking on the Mhadei water diversion issue.
“I am not a scientific expert to comment about Mhadei and needs time to study the Mhadei diversion issue,” he said
The minister also said tha he will answer questions about the issue after studying the issue in detail.
The Union Minister further abstained from giving out any information or what he plans to do.
WRD Minister Subhash Shirodkar said that the state has filed objections for diverting the waters of the Mhadei before all government agencies concerned.
Our counsels in the Supreme Court will present our case before the bench in a good manner when it comes up for hearing on February 13,” Shirodkar said
Goa has opposed any diversion of waters of the river Mhadei which originates in the Western Ghats in Karnataka, takes a detour via Maharashtra and enters Goa as the Mandovi.
The Mhadei river basin drains an area of 2032 sq km, out of which an area of 375 sq km lies in Karnataka, 77 sq km in Maharashtra and rest in Goa.
Both the Goa and Karnataka governments have, for very different reasons, challenged the final award granted by the Mhadei interstate Water Disputes Tribunal which in a verdict in August 2018 granted Karnataka a total of 13 42 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of their demand from their total claims of 36.558 TMC of water.
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