Goa: Congress workers protest against Govt's economic policies, seek Centre's intervention in Mhadei dispute

Congress workers on Tuesday staged a protest at Raj Bhavan in Panaji, against the economic policies of the Centre, and urged Governor Satya Pal Malik to seek the Centre's intervention in the ongoing inter-state dispute between Goa and Karnataka over the waters of the Mhadei river.

Hundreds of Congress workers marched to the Raj Bhavan today to protest against the economic policies of the Central government.

Speaking to , Digambar Kamat, Leader of Opposition, said: "The economic slowdown in the country is compelling the industry to lay off its workers. This is creating severe unemployment problems. Furthermore, they are unable to control the prices of basic commodities, which is creating problems for the common man."

Speaking on the Mhadei dispute, Kamat demanded immediate revocation of the environmental clearance given to Karnataka by the Minister for Environment and Forest Prakash Javdekar.

Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar termed the rally as "Bharat Bachao rally', and "Mhadei Bachao rally', and alleged that the BJP government are the perpetrators of the issues.

"The Mhadei issue is being created by the Modi government to deliberately make BJP win in the Karnataka by-elections. The BJP ministers in Goa are also involved in this conspiracy against the citizens of Goa," said Chodankar.

Pratima Coutinho, Congress Mahila President, said that the common man was affected by the policies of the government such as GST and Demonetisation.

Speaking on the issue of Mhadei dispute, she said: "We will not compromise the Mhadei river, as Karnataka is not interested in diverting the water for irrigation purposes, whereas Goans are in dire need of the water."

Earlier, Javadekar had granted consent to Karnataka's Kalasa-Bhandura project, which is undertaken by the Karnataka government aims to improve drinking water supply to the Belagavi, Dharwad and Gadag districts.

The sharing of the waters of Mhadei river has been the cause of a dispute between the governments of Karnataka and Goa for over two decades.

( With inputs from ANI )