the goan I network
PANAJI
The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee on Thursday said that the government’s claims of ‘victory’ on the Mhadei issue were “false”, and demanded that the government approach the Supreme Court (SC) to appeal the award of the Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal.
Addressing the press on Thursday, Mandrem MLA Dayanand Sopte explained that since Goa had been fighting the Mhadei case since 1973, and had spent crores of rupees on the same, it was unacceptable that Karnataka had been awarded 13.42 thousand million cubic feet (tmc) of water from River Mhadei.
“This is not the end of the Mhadei issue,” said Sopte. “The award will affect generations to come. The government has not thought of the needs of future generations when calling this a ‘victory’ for the state,” he said.
Alongside him, spokesperson Advocate Yatish Naik insisted that the Mhadei award which came on Tuesday, was a total failure for the state government and Water Resource Department. “The WRD Minister had said in December that Karnataka would not be given a single drop of water,” said Adv Naik.
“Yet now, they have been awarded 13.42 TMC of water, and our CM and other ministers are calling it a ‘victory.’ What are the government’s victory claims based on?” he questioned, pointing out that Karnataka Opposition Leader BS Yeddyurappa had called it a victory for Karnataka.
“In continuation of what our president Girish Chodankar and ex-MP Ramakant Khalap have said, our government needs to take the matter to the SC,” insisted Naik.
Naik also slammed the CM for tweeting that the Award was a victory within minutes of the Award coming out. “It was a 2,711 page award,” said Naik.
“When did our CM study the Award before calling it a ‘victory’? Goans on the whole have called it a loss for Goa. NGOs and activists have said the verdict is not something Goa should be proud of. Only the government is calling this a victory,” pointed out Naik, adding, “Our government has failed to protect the interest of Goans.”
