Mahadayi row: Goa to file contempt plea against Karnataka

Panaji: The Goa government will file a contempt petition before the Supreme Court and the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal against Karnataka for allegedly resuming work on a canal of a Mahadayi tributary at Kanakumbi in Belagavi district “in violation” of the apex court order.

Goa Water Resources Department Minister Vinod Palyekar said here on Sunday that the state would file the contempt petition in the first week of February. Last year, the apex court had ordered Karnataka to stop work on the construction of the canal at Kalasa-Banduri project site at Kanakumbi, which was aimed at diverting water from the Mahadayi tributary.

Goa has claimed that it has photographic evidence to prove that the work has begun.

“The ongoing case before the tribunal would be heard again in the first week of February, during which we will file contempt petition before it (tribunal). Similar petition will also be filed before the Supreme Court,” Palyekar said.

On Saturday, Goa Chief Minister Manoharr Parrikar told PTI that “Goa Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma has written a letter to his Karnataka counterpart pointing out to the violations of the SC directives by resumption of the work on a canal at the Mahadayi tributary (at Kanakumbi village).” Karnataka and Goa, the riparian states of the Mahadayi river (known as Mandovi in Goa), are locked in a bitter battle over sharing of the water of the river, which originates in Belagavi.

“We have told Karnataka that they were violating the directives of the apex court on the issue and that they should not do that. We will bring it to the notice of the (Supreme) Court that such a thing (work on the canal) is happening as it was a court order (which has been violated),” Parrikar added.

In the recent years, the southern state has pegged its demand for Mahadayi water at 7.56 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) to meet drinking requirements of North Karnataka region. However, Goa has expressed apprehensions that Karnataka would stock more water in its reservoirs and channel it to the Malaprabha basin for irrigation purposes.

“We will bring it to the notice of the (Supreme) Court that such a thing (work on the canal) is happening as it was a court order (which has been violated),” the chief minister added.

On Friday, Palyekar along with a team of officials inspected the “fresh works” allegedly being carried out at Kanakumbi. He said a team of Water Resources Department officials will monitor the situation at Kalasa canal every week.