Mahadayi: No out-of-court settlement with K'taka, says Sawant

Panaji/Bengaluru: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday ruled out any negotiation or out-of-court settlement with Karnataka on the Mahadayi water dispute issue.

Karnataka and Goa have been locked in a bitter battle over sharing of water of the Mahadayi river (known as Mandovi in Goa), which originates at Belagavi in the southern state.

Sawant said the Goa government is firm on its stand that the Mahadayi river water should not be allowed to be diverted by Karnataka.

“There is no issue of out-of-court settlement or negotiations,” he told PTI.

Union minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday said the chief ministers of Karnataka and Goa should sit and negotiate to resolve the water diversion dispute.

However, the Congress in Goa later opposed any kind of settlement with Karnataka over the issue.

Leader of the Opposition in Goa Assembly Digambar Kamat on Monday said since the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal has already given its order over the issue, there is no scope for any negotiation.

The tribunal gave its order on the issue last year after which both the states filed special leave petitions in the Supreme Court.

The tribunal, hearing the dispute among three riparian states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra over sharing of the river water, in August last year allotted 13.42 TMC (including 3.9 TMC for diversion into the depleted Malaprabha river basin) from the Mahadayi river basin to Karnataka, while Maharashtra was allotted 1.33 TMC.

Besides, the Supreme Court last year ordered Karnataka to stop work on the construction of a canal, which was aimed at diverting water from a tributary of the Mahadayi river.