BELAGAVI: Hours after Goa government filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Karnataka for allegedly diverting the Mahadayi river water, state water resources minister Ramesh Jarkiholi said that they will initiate the necessary measures to respond to Goa's allegations in the court.
The government never resorted to any illegal activities when it came to Mahadayi issue, Jarkiholi told TNIE, further adding that he was not aware of the petition filed by the Goa government and the allegations.
The minister further said that his government had initiated several measures to expedite the implementation of Kalasa-Banduri project (part of Mahadayi project) after obtaining all the required permissions from the Centre.
Goa Chief Minister had tweeted to confirm the filing of the contempt petition against the Karnataka in the apex court. "We (Goa government) will continue to fight for our rigths," CM Pramod Sawant wrote.
He further stated that his government had produced visual evidence to prove that Karnataka had diverted the Mahadayi water despite the matter being sub-judice.
Karnataka government's advocate in the Supreme Court, Mohan Katarki told TNIE that the Goa's contempt petition would not make any impact and said, he was yet to get the details of the plea and the charges.
A top official from the Water Resources Department, Karnataka, said, "I am sure that the contempt petition filed by the Goa government will not be admitted in the Supreme Court in the first place as the Centre has already issued a gazette notification for implementation of Mahadayi project. And also, the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT) has awarded Karnataka its share of water.''
The state government termed the Goa government's petition as a "delaying tactic'' adopted by the coastal state and said that the Goa government was trying needlessly to put obstacles at a time when the Centre had already okayed this project.
"We will discuss the issue with our legal team in New Delhi and respond firmly to Goa government's move. The petition will not have any significance after the gazette notification of the MWDT award,'' sources in WRD added.
Meanwhile, the BJP government in Goa has come under fire from Opposition parties for failing to curtail Karnataka’s moves to divert Mahadayi. GPCC President Girish Chodankar has challenged CM Sawant to sack cabinet minister Filip Neri Rodrigues, who was WRD Minister during Congress Rule. He also dared CM to show guts and release White Paper on Mahadayi project.