Search the Internet            Tips

Goa, Karnataka to resolve
water dispute amicably

Goa and Karnataka have once again decided to resolve their water dispute amicably, while the southern state continues to invent proposals to divert water from the Mhadei, which joins the Arabian sea in Goa as the Mandovi.

A decision was taken at a meeting of Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and his Karnataka counterpart S M Krishna in Bangalore on Friday. The meeting was also attended by Goa's Irrigation Minister Ramakant Khalap.

According to an official spokesman, both chief ministers admitted there were considerable discrepancies in facts and figures on both sides on the diversion of Mhadei's water.

Irrigation department officials decided to jointly collect data and discuss it before going ahead with any plan.

The Mhadei traverses 28.8 km in Karnataka and 81.2 km in Goa. Its total catchment area is estimated at 2032 sq km, out of which 1580 sq km is in Goa.

The unilateral multi-crore plan of Karnataka is to build seven dams on the river and four diversion dams at various tributaries, diverting 255 million cubic metres from the Mhadei to Malprabha basin for irrigation in Belgaum as well as parts of Bijapur and Dharwar districts. It also envisages 457 mw of hydroelectric power generation with three power houses.

Based on a comprehensive environment impact assessment report prepared by the Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute in September 1997, Karnataka claims that Goa will benefit from the multi-crore project.

A panel of experts appointed by the Goa Government, however, has given a totally divergent opinion, pointing out that it would disrupt Goa's ecological balance, with the drying up of the Mandovi, considered the lifeline of the tourist state.

If diverted, it will affect human settlements in terms of irrigation and drinking water and the tiger belt - considered next to Sundarbans - would be submerged, besides affecting the 5000-year-old traditional silt-based agriculture in 50 villages, point out environmentalists.

Mhadei Bachao Andolan convenor Nirmala Sawant, who is also newly-appointed local Congress president, is worried since Karnataka recently went ahead with a new diversion plan while both states had decided in January to resolve the issue amicably. She plans to meet Krishna and party president Sonia Gandhi over the issue.

A recent plan is to build a dam at Nersa by blocking two major drains and diverting water to Malprabha. Situated barely 25 km from Goa's north-eastern boundary along the Belgaum road, Nersa is part of the proposed Bhimgarh sanctuary and covers a rich forest and the agricultural belt of the area.

The new plan is also opposed by seven villages around Nersa, forming the Nersa Parisar Saurakshan Samiti, with the help of the Belgaum Nature Lovers' Club, a group of environmentalists which unearthed the sinister designs of the Karnataka authorities.

By building the dam at Nersa between two hills, where two major drains of Bandura and Sangarhole meet, the Karnataka government plans to divert the water back to a tributary of the Malprabha, by constructing a 300-feet wide and 45-feet deep canal.

The plan, if implemented, will submerge at least 1200 acres, including 475 acres of agricultural land with sugarcane, groundnut and paddy. Though habitation will be left out, residents in and around Nersa will have to migrate.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report