PANAJI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah was given a mineral water bottle worth Rs 850 during his trip to Goa and it was brought from a town located around 10km away from Panaji, state Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik said on Tuesday.
Naik mentioned about the expensive buy while making a strong pitch for rainwater harvesting in Goa and explaining how water will become a scarce and precious resource in the future.
"When Amit Shah was in Goa (for campaigning for February Assembly polls), he asked for a Himalaya (brand) water bottle. It was then brought from Mapusa (located around 10km from Panaji)," Naik said, addressing an event in South Goa.
The mineral water which was purchased for Shah costs Rs 850 per bottle, he said.
"Even the rate of mineral water bottles available in star hotels hovers in the range of Rs 150-Rs 160. This is how expensive water has become," Naik added.
Naik, a former Goa chief minister, in the past has pushed for constructing dams across rivers to accumulate water, which he said, can be sold to Gulf countries in exchange for fuel.
"The government can build dams across the state, wherever there are mountains, and store water," he said at the event, warning people will fight for water in the future due to shortages.