BELAGAVI: A team of senior ministers from Karnataka has decided to take a delegation to New Delhi on February 26 to get the process of gazette notification of the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT) expedited by the Centre. The delegation wants to impress upon the central leadership about the importance of diverting water from Mahadayi to Karnataka to tide over the drinking water crisis in several parts of North Karnataka.
This move follows Goa government’s decision to move the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the project. Despite the tribunal awarding 13.42 tmcft share of Mahadayi water to Karnataka and SC directing the Centre for gazette notification of the award to make way for Karnataka to start work on the project, Goa government is leaving no stone unturned to prevent the diversion of the river water to Karnataka.
According to sources, several senior ministers from North Karnataka region including Ramesh Jarkiholi and Shrimant Patil will be part of the state’s delegation which will meet the Union Water Resources Minister in New Delhi.
“Already an appointment with the Union minister has been scheduled and preparations are on to have Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa also in the delegation,” a senior minister said.on
Considering the importance of having the CM in the delegation, Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi said attempts were on to get him on board. But whether he will be available to join the team given his upcoming tight schedule remains to be seen, he said.
On the other side, Goa CM Pramod Sawant is under tremendous pressure from all quarters to move the Supreme Court to, what leaders in Goa said, “to save Goa’s lifeline Mahadayi river”. While calling Mahadayi as the lifeline of Goa, the Goan ruling party and opposition leaders contend that its diversion could not only affect the natural flow of the river but could also lead to water problems in several parts of Goa besides destruction of a large patch of the lush-green Western Ghats on the Karnataka-Goa border.
Meanwhile, in Hubballi, senior Congress leader HK Patil said on Monday that Rs 2,000 crore be allocated. Calling the recent SC directive to the Union government a “partial victory” for Karnataka, Patil told reporters that either the central ministers representing the state in the cabinet discuss with the minister and officials of the Jalashakti Ministry or the state government take an all-party delegation to New Delhi.