BELAGAVI: The Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT), which was constituted to adjudicate disputes over the sharing of Mahadayi River water between Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra, has been granted another extension of six months by the Centre.
According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the period of the tribunal has been further extended for six more months with effect from February 16, this year. It is the seventh time that the term of the tribunal has been extended by the ministry, since the announcement of the final verdict of the tribunal in August 2018.
The tribunal, constituted in 2010 by the Centre, has been unable to address the long-drawn dispute between the stakeholder states, even after 14 years. The MWDT was established under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, to resolve water disputes relating to the Mahadayi river and valley.
The tribunal was supposed to submit its report within three years from the date of its constitution (November 15, 2013). But it had requested the Centre to consider August 21, 2013, the effective date of its functioning to be the date of its constitution. The Centre notified the effective date of the constitution to be August 21, 2013, and three years for submission of its report.
According to sources, the Mahadayi PRAWAH is scheduled to hold its meeting in Mumbai on March 4, where it is expected to discuss the Goa Government’s proposal for a joint inspection of the Kalasa-Banduri site in Kankumbi, on the Goa border.
Greens express concern
Even as the state government is desperately trying to get the Centre’s final nod for the implementation of the Kalasa-Banduri project to divert its share of the Mahadayi water as allocated by the MWDT, environmentalists have expressed concern over the adverse effects which the diversion of the Mahadayi will have on the vast stretch of forest in the Western Ghats.
Environmentalist Captain Nitin Dhond from Parisarakkagi Navu said, “Diversion of the Mahadayi will turn North Karnataka into a desert.”
Presenting a case study of River Malaprabha at the two-day meeting held recently, which discussed the life-sustaining role of the Sahyadri Mountains, Dhond explained the climate science behind the critical role played by the contiguous forests of Khanapur taluk in bringing rain to the region, water to the Malaprabha, sustaining life and livelihoods of people of North Karnataka, and deterring progressive desertification of the region.