BELAGAVI: Claiming that the water level in the Mahadayi river had receded due to diversion of water by Karnataka through the Kalasa-Banduri nala, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said there is no question of any out-of-court settlement in the water-sharing dispute.
Despite attempts being made by the Karnataka government to find an amicable solution, the Goa CM clearly stated that his government will not get into any kind of negotiations with neighbouring Karnataka outside the Supreme Court on the Mahadayi issue.
Dr Sawant’s statement that his government is against an out-of-court settlement of the Mahadayi issue comes days after Shankargouda Patil, Karnataka’s representative in New Delhi, issued a statement that the Goa CM was keen on an amicable solution to any issue related to strengthening relations between the two states. Recently, Shankargouda Patil had met Sawant in Panjim and held discussions on various social and economic issues related to both states.
Speaking to the media in Goa, the CM said he had also clarified the stand of his state on Mahadayi to party national general secretary C T Ravi, who is in charge of Goa. The Goa government has already filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Karnataka alleging that the latter diverted Mahadayi water through Kalasa nala.
However, Karnataka Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, who spoke to TNIE recently, had stated that the Goa government filed a false contempt petition and that the neighbouring state will certainly get a jolt in the court. “The Karnataka government never violated the orders of Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal or Supreme Court in the Mahadayi issue,’’ Jarkiholi had stressed.
The contention of the Goa government in its petition to the apex court that Karnataka demolished the check-wall constructed in Kalasa nala to divert Mahadayi water illegally is false. Soon after the Supreme Court orders, Karnataka raised a huge wall in Kalasa nala (at the Mahadayi project site in Kanakumbi) to halt the flow of Mahadayi river water. Several teams had visited the spot to inspect the wall after it was built, Jarkiholi said, adding that it was unfair of the Goa government to contend that Karnataka had diverted water by demolishing the wall.