Mahadayi river issue: Goa govt to file contempt petition in SC against Karnataka

The Goa government will file a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Karnataka for "diverting" Mahadayi river water, said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday.

He said that this contempt petition is, in addition to an earlier contempt filed in the apex court in the month of August 2018, when Karnataka had engaged in a similar "mischief".

"From 2002 till 2020, the Mahadayi water dispute is going on between Goa, State of Karnataka and Maharashtra. In 2006-07, the Congress government gave permission to construct Virdi dam. I have raised the issue of salinity in the river. After the salinity study, we will get to know about the water problem," Sawant said.

"Karnataka was saying that the water is being wasted. I have convinced them that this water is not getting wasted. We are filing a contempt petition against Karnataka for the diversion of water. It will be filed within two days," he said.

BJP is the ruling party in both Goa and Karnataka.

According to Goa Chief Minister, the Mahadayi water dispute between three co-basins in Goa, Karnataka, and Maharashtra occurred in 2002 when the coastal state made a formal complaint with the Ministry of Water Resources, Union of India and requested for setting up of a Tribunal under the "Interstate River Water Disputes Act 1956" as Karnataka had planned schemes to "divert 7.56 TMC of Mahadayi Water on Malaprabha Basin for alleged drinking water needs of Hubli Dharwad twin cities and enroute villages".

Sawant said that he met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar over the issue.

"At our request and consistent follow-up, the Jal Shakti Ministry has appointed the National Institute of Hydrology to study and assess the salinity in Mahadayi basin. This will help the State in its cause," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )